Gilgeous-Alexander admits the Thunder have to be better when playing against the Spurs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have lost five games this season, and three of them have come against the San Antonio Spurs. It appears that Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson and his team have found the defending champion's Achilles' heel.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAs the reigning champions, the Thunder have a target on their backs. They have done well to stand out this season, but the Spurs have their number. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder's best player, has admitted that it is worrying to lose this much against one team.
Gilgeous-Alexander knows the Thunder have a problem
For the majority of the season so far, the Thunder only had one loss to their name, which was against the Portland Trail Blazers. Since they entered December, the Thunder have lost four games. One was to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which was payback for their Western Conference Finals loss to the Thunder.
The other three have come against the Spurs. It has been a fantastic matchup between the two stars, Wembanyama and Gilgeous-Alexander. The latter is the reigning regular-season and Finals MVP, so he wants his team to live up to the expectations and not lose to one team three times in a row.
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"We have to get better as a group. You don't lose to a time three times in a row in a short span without them being better than you. So, we have to get better. We have to look in the mirror, and that's everybody from top to bottom," Gilgeous-Alexander said after their Christmas Day loss to the Spurs.
With the Thunder's recent slide, they now have five losses on the season. The Spurs are breathing down their necks now in the Western Conference standings. The Thunder have a 26-5 record, which is a sizable 2.5-game lead against the second-seeded Spurs, who have a 23-7 record.
A couple of weeks ago, most people would have expected the Thunder to run away with the Western Conference. Now, they are in proximity to the Spurs and the Denver Nuggets in the standings, which demonstrates that the NBA can be unpredictable most of the time.
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