NBA

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Credits Thunder Teammate For Playoff Success

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Antonio Kozlow
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Antonio Kozlow Sports Editor

Antonio is a life long sports enthusiast and professional journalist, who shares an obssesive urge to find and dig up the most interesting facts to guide gamblers towards more exciting, yet safe bets. In his own words, ''you can never really know enough about the things you love''.

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Sports Editor

Updated21 mins ago on June 18, 2025

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The Thunder are only one game away from consolidating their best season in the franchise’s history, as they take on the Pacers in Game 6 in Indianapolis on Thursday evening. Not only did they record their best mark during the regular season, if they win one more game they will clinch their first-ever title. 

Even though most of the spotlight is over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is not only the league’s scoring champion, but also the regular-season MVP, there are other players inside the Oklahoma City roster who deserve just as much recognition. The first one to tell you this is none other than SGA.

Even after posting his usual 31 points as contribution to their Game 5 victory, it was Jalen Williams who truly inspired OKC with a special 40-point performance on 14-for-25 shooting. Nevertheless, the star guard pointed at Alex Caruso as the key player who has kept the balance inside on the court.

“He’s the only one on the team with a ring. He knows what it takes,” Gilgeous-Alexander said about the oldest player inside the Thunder locker room. “When he speaks, everyone listens. What he brings to the game, you have no choice but to listen.”

After Game 4 of the NBA Finals, Caruso attended the press postgame and was asked if he was aware he had achieved a new level of superhero status among Thunder fans. Amid his impressive playoff run, he’s already posted two 20-point games in the NBA Finals, something he didn’t achieve this regular season.

However, the Oklahoma City veteran has remained modest, and discarded being his team’s hero. “For the superhero reference, we’ll just do Robin because that’s the only one I can probably make some similarities to,” the 31-year-old said. “I’ve got better players around me that are doing more.”

Even so, his coach is convinced that Caruso much more than he thinks of himself. “He’s a competitive monster, clearly,” Mark Daigneault shared. “He’s proven that time and again over his career. Certainly in these playoffs … I can’t say enough about him as a competitor.”