1 week Ago
When Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander saw James Harden in the final minute of the first quarter, he took his time. Gilgeous-Alexander went between his legs to his left hand, then dribbled again as if to set up a step-back jumper, which he beat Harden with earlier in the quarter. Harden again reacted to contest a possible pull-up, only this time Gilgeous-Alexander went between his legs back to his right hand and drove around Harden’s left shoulder.
All Harden could do was try to swipe down on Gilgeous-Alexander, to no avail. The only Clippers defender at the rim was the 6-foot-4 Kevin Porter Jr. , making it an easy finish for the 6-foot-6 Gilgeous-Alexander.
These are the kinds of plays that make Gilgeous-Alexander one of the best scorers in basketball, particularly in isolation. No team goes to isolation plays more than the Thunder, as they average 15.6 possessions per game this season on those play types when passes are included.
Last season, the Thunder ranked fourth in isolation possessions behind only the Clippers and the two teams in the NBA Finals, the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics . Dallas eliminated the Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals, and the Celtics won the NBA championship. Advertisement Gilgeous-Alexander is the lead isolation player on the heaviest isolation team in the league.
Last season, only fellow MVP finalist Luka Doncic (7.9) averaged more points per game on isolations than Gilgeous-Alexander’s 6.8.
This season, Gilgeous-Alexander is up to 7.0 points per game on isolations, trailing only Jayson Tatum (7.5).
On this particular night against the Clippers, his original team, Gilgeous-Alexander had the best scoring night of his six-year career in a 134-128 win: 45 points on 13-of-21 shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring average is actually down this season through 11 games at 27.8, after averaging 30.
1 in 2023-24 and 31.4 in 2022-23. But Monday was Gilgeous-Alexander’s first game in two seasons without center Chet Holmgren , who will be re-evaluated in 8-10 weeks following an injury to his right hip suffered Sunday against the Golden State Warriors .
It likely puts more on Gilgeous-Alexander’s shoulders to create for himself more often. And he is more than willing to vouch for the iso. “I think the best shots are created and made through the paint,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who leads all guards in paint points per game (13.
5, fifth in NBA). “The highest percentage of field goals made is in the paint, and the best percentage of 3s made is drive and kick, touching the paint. We have multiple guys on the team that understand that, and I guess it’s a little bit of how the team’s built.
But it’s part of our identity. We drive the ball and touch the paint more than any team in the league. And it equips us offensively to be able to get open looks, get to the basket, make the right play from there.
” The identity that Gilgeous-Alexander speaks of has been cultivated over head coach Mark Daigneault’s five-year tenure. No team averages more drives per game than Oklahoma City (62.9, at least six more than any other team, per Second Spectrum).
The Thunder have led the league in drives every season under Daigneault, who replaced Billy Donovan as Oklahoma City’s head coach after Gilgeous-Alexander’s first season with the team in 2019-20. Advertisement “It starts with efficiency,” said Daigneault, the 2024 NBA Coach of the Year. “You want to have an efficient offense; you want the juice to be worth the squeeze on a given possession.
You could do that in a number of different ways. Usually, it’s based on the strength of your personnel. Second of all, I think having some diversity is a good thing.
I think if you’re just pumping fastballs all game, no matter how good your fastball is, you can get hit. But offense is about creating advantages, at the end of the day. You have to have an advantage to have efficiency.
” Isolation basketball tends to have a negative connotation. When a team doesn’t have strong isolation players, the emphasis on ball movement takes on a greater importance. For example, the Toronto Raptors — who are in the midst of a full rebuild following the departures of Fred VanVleet , OG Anunoby, and Pascal Siakam since the 2023 offseason — have overhauled their style of play.
Coach Darko Rajaković oversees an offense that ranks last in isolation possessions per game this season (5.0) and was 27th in his first season with the franchise last year. Instead, the Raptors rank behind only the Golden State Warriors and Indiana Pacers with 319.
5 passes per game while ranking fourth in assists per game (28.9) despite being the first team this season to lose 10 games. “I think it’s the right way to play basketball that way,” said Rajaković, a former Thunder assistant from 2014 to 2019 who has also coached in the G League, Spain and his native Serbia.
Asked Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković about the product his team puts out (1st in assists, %points in paint, and oREB%) and what he would tell fans about it Rajaković mentioned 2010s Spurs , Dynasty Warriors, Joker pic.twitter.com/lUtx06N5ru — Law Murray 🕯️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) November 10, 2024 What the Thunder don’t do is pass the ball at a high clip.
Per Second Spectrum, the Thunder average 264.5 passes per game this season. Only the Cleveland Cavaliers , Houston Rockets and Mavericks average fewer passes.
Last season, the Thunder ranked 23rd in passes made per game. Watching the Thunder play is not the same as, say, the “ Beautiful Game ” San Antonio Spurs of the early-to-mid 2010s. Advertisement But the Thunder aren’t a selfish team.
They rank 12th in assists per game. And having the ball in isolation has kept turnovers low, as no team averages fewer turnovers this season (12.3).
It’s the strength of what is the ninth-best offense in the league. Most importantly, Daigneault believes that having players of any size who can dribble, pass, and shoot is how his squad creates advantages consistently, led by Gilgeous-Alexander. “I think everybody wants to see beautiful ball movement, but sometimes — most of the time — beautiful ball movement comes after an advantage is created,” Daigneault said.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to work in isolation is enhanced by a Thunder team that has strong catch-and-shoot 3-point threats on the roster. Last season, only the Celtics (11.4) made more 3s off the catch than the Thunder (10.
9) or shot them at a higher percentage (40.2 percent for Oklahoma City, 40.6 percent for the Celtics).
This season, only the Bulls and Celtics have made more 3s off the catch than the Thunder (10.6), while Oklahoma City ranks 10th in catch-and-shoot 3-point percentage (39.5).
Oklahoma City hopes to get free-agent acquisition Isaiah Hartenstein back from a fractured hand shortly. But in the meantime, the Thunder are going to put five skilled players on the floor and maintain a Gilgeous-Alexander-spearheaded isolation presence. “(Gilgeous-Alexander) gets switched a lot because of our fives, you know,” Daigneault said.
That need to diversify an offensive approach applies to Gilgeous-Alexander as well. This season, he is attempting more 3s than ever, 5.5 per game.
The success hasn’t consistently been there, as Gilgeous-Alexander is making a career-low 29.5 percent. Per Second Spectrum, Gilgeous-Alexander is attempting 4.
7 3s off the bounce per game, up from 2.6 attempts last season. “I appreciate your concern,” Gilgeous-Alexander said when asked what he would say to those who believe he is shooting too many 3s when the Thunder visited LA in the first weekend in November.
Advertisement Gilgeous-Alexander is already a proficient midrange shooter. As a top isolation scorer, the pull-up 3 is Gilgeous-Alexander’s last frontier to conquer. Against the Clippers, he showed flashes of what that looks like, making a season-best 4 of 8 3s.
One of the biggest moments in Gilgeous-Alexander’s career was a buzzer-beater pull-up 3-pointer in December 2021 against the Clippers as well: The Thunder score 119.6 points per 100 possessions with Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor, which would rank second in the NBA among teams. They only score 100.
0 points per 100 possessions when Gilgeous-Alexander is off the floor, which would rank dead last. The offense is an area of development for Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates. The Thunder will be tested by the state of their short-handed roster in the short term, and by the weight of their expectations in the long term.
They were the top seed in the West last season, and remain a favorite to make it out of a highly competitive conference. Gilgeous-Alexander knows that he needs to bring his teammates along with him, not just stand out individually. But he also knows that the Thunder will not change their isolation style of play any time soon.
“We understand that it’s our strength,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “And it’s the most efficient way to score the basketball.” (Top photo: John Leyba / USA Today).
