{"id":634709,"date":"2026-05-10T12:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/634709\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T12:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T12:30:08","slug":"thunders-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reveals-key-to-okcs-third-quarter-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/634709\/","title":{"rendered":"Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals key to OKC\u2019s third quarter success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals key to OKC\u2019s third quarter success<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a> continue to look less like a defending champion and more like a basketball machine programmed for postseason destruction. Following Saturday night\u2019s emphatic 131-108 victory<\/a> over the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, Oklahoma City<\/a> improved to a flawless 7-0 in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. They have moved within one win of another Western Conference Finals appearance. Of course, the final score suggested a complete domination from start to finish. However, the game was actually competitive through two quarters before the Thunder unleashed another trademark third-quarter avalanche.<\/p>\n

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After entering halftime with the contest still within reach, OKC exploded for a 33-20 third period that completely drained the energy from Crypto.com Arena. It just buried the short-handed Lakers. Following the game, reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> explained the philosophy behind Oklahoma City\u2019s repeated second-half takeovers.<\/p>\n

\u201cCourse correct,\u201d Gilgeous-Alexander said in a postgame interview. \u201cHalftime gives us the chance to really watch what we are doing wrong. Go out there and make adjustments.\u201d<\/p>\n

The simplicity of the quote<\/a> perfectly reflects the Thunder\u2019s surgical playoff approach. Oklahoma City consistently identified Los Angeles<\/a>\u2019 defensive blitzes and spacing breakdowns. The Thunder immediately exploited them after halftime. SGA finished with 23 points and nine assists. He calmly orchestrated the offense while teammates like Ajay Mitchell<\/a> erupted for a career playoff-high 24 points. Chet Holmgren<\/a> added 18 points and nine rebounds as OKC extended its winning streak against the Lakers to seven games this season.<\/p>\n

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Through the opening three games of the Western Conference Semifinals, he has averaged 21 points and 5.7 assists. He has consistently dictated tempo and exposed defensive mistakes with ruthless efficiency.<\/p>\n

Whether attacking in transition or calmly \u201ccourse correcting\u201d after halftime, SGA has elevated the Thunder into what increasingly looks like the NBA\u2019s most unstoppable force.<\/p>\n

Related: 3 Lakers most to blame for 131-108 Game 3 loss to Thunder<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Thunder HC Mark Daigneault\u2019s 1 note for Ajay Mitchell after dominant Game 3 performance<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals key to OKC\u2019s third quarter success appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[56233,16733,3031,1055,355,12205,6402,6407,99,69310],"class_list":["post-634709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ajay-mitchell","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-nba","tag-oklahoma-city","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-shai-gilgeous-alexander","tag-sports","tag-western-conference-finals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}