Thunder Tundukkan Spurs Lewat Kedisiplinan Pemain Cadangan

Oklahoma City Thunder berhasil bangkit dari ketertinggalan awal untuk mengalahkan San Antonio Spurs dengan skor 123-108 pada Game 3 Final Wilayah Barat NBA yang dirilis pada Sabtu (23/5), sekaligus merebut keunggulan seri 2-1.

Kemenangan krusial di markas lawan tersebut dipimpin oleh performa gemilang Shai Gilgeous-Alexander yang membukukan 26 poin dan 12 asis bagi tim tamu.

"We just went out there and competed. They obviously jumped on us early. First game in their building, their crowd behind them, they were excited to play. We just wanted to make sure we competed from that point on. We obviously didn’t give our best effort to start that game, but can’t do nothing about it. It’s behind us. All we can do is focus on the next possession, and we did that." ujar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander seperti dilansir dari Raul Dominguez dari The Associated Press.

Kedisiplinan mengontrol bola menjadi kunci utama kebangkitan tim setelah sempat tertinggal 15 poin tanpa balas di awal laga.

Pelatih kepala Mark Daigneault menyoroti jumlah kesalahan sendiri atau turnover timnya yang sangat rendah, yakni hanya mencatat 10 kali sepanjang pertandingan.

"Other than the first 15 points, our defense was really tight. We got back, settled down into the halfcourt. Our offense had something to do with that. We ran good offense tonight, despite the fact that they were amped up and ready to go, the Spurs were. It’s a discipline series. We did that. We couldn’t be reckless against them, they are too good with the ball, too well coached, too talented. So you’ve got to be able to do it with discipline. I thought we really were disciplined tonight." kata Mark Daigneault.

Faktor kedalaman skuad yang luar biasa juga menjadi pembeda besar karena barisan pemain cadangan Thunder mampu mengungguli cadangan Spurs dengan selisih poin telak 76-23 saat Jalen Williams absen akibat cedera hamstring.

Pemain yang baru didatangkan musim ini, Jared McCain, memimpin lini kedua tersebut dengan torehan 24 poin sepanjang penampilannya.

"He just oozes confidence. He knows exactly who he is, he knows exactly what he does, and he goes out there and does it no matter what. Whether the ball goes in or out he makes the next play, he makes the best play for himself and for the guys out there. He’s always aggressive, always in attack mode and we needed it tonight." kata Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dilansir dari Joe Mussatto dari The Oklahoman.

Selain McCain, pengamat Jenni Carlson dari The Oklahoman menilai Alex Caruso sebagai pemain paling bernilai (MVP) sejauh seri ini berlangsung berkat kontribusi menyeluruh di lapangan.

Garda veteran tersebut mencetak 15 poin dalam 24 menit pada Game 3, serta mencatatkan rata-rata 21,0 poin, 2,7 rebound, 2,3 asis, 1,7 steal, dan 1,0 block dengan efisiensi plus-46 selama menit bermainnya di seri ini.

"I think the most impressive thing is, he makes the plays that have nothing to do with physical ability." kata Chet Holmgren.