The Oklahoma City Thunder might’ve swept the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, but the Lakers didn’t make life particularly easy for Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Now, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are dealing with the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, and in Game 1, the Spurs deployed a game plan (potentially inspired by the Lakers) that forced the league MVP to have a very poor shooting night.
That led former NBA guard Jeff Teague to suggest on Tuesday that Lakers head coach J.J. Redick might’ve come up with a blueprint to expose Gilgeous-Alexander, and it appears that Teague isn’t the only one who feels that way.
“Shout-out…Carter Bryant for his 13 minutes,” former NBA guard Brandon Jennings said. “Yeah, it doesn’t look like it on the scoresheet, but he was 10-plus, then the way he was defending SGA was amazing. I think the Lakers, they set the blueprint for how they were playing against SGA, and Spurs came over, and they just did it to a T. They have better guards for sure, but it was from J.J. Redick to me. That’s how I feel like SGA is getting exposed a little bit.”
Gilgeous-Alexander still made an impact in the second round against the Lakers, but Redick and company found a way to keep him in check for the most part. He was held to 23 points or fewer in three straight games before he eventually had a more characteristic performance in Game 4 with 35 points.
The Thunder eliminated the Lakers as quickly as possible, but in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, they fell to the Spurs in a double overtime classic. Gilgeous-Alexander had a shooting night to forget, as he finished just 7-of-23 from the field. To his credit, he did have 12 assists and five steals, but it wasn’t enough for OKC to win the game.
Teague went as far as to say that Redick might’ve created all sorts of problems for the Thunder’s future (and dynasty trajectory) by coming up with an effective game plan for Gilgeous-Alexander.
Jennings didn’t go that far, but he and Teague seem to agree that Redick and the Lakers deserve lots of credit for getting creative against a player as lethal as Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Thunder and Spurs will resume their battle for an NBA Finals bid on Wednesday in Game 2 of their series. Since the Thunder lost Game 1 at home, they could really use a win in Game 2 to stop the bleeding before the series shifts to San Antonio.
As the postseason continues, Gilgeous-Alexander will be a key player to monitor for anyone wondering whether the book is indeed out on how to guard him.
