SGA Says Thunder 'Sucked' vs. Pacers and Blames 'Carelessness' for His 8 Turnovers
Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn't mince words about how he and his teammates played in their 108-91 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 6 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
Following the Thunder's defeat on Thursday night, Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters they "sucked" in Game 6 and blamed his own "carelessness" with the ball for tying his season-high with eight turnovers.
"Some of them I just think was carelessness and not being focused and not being engaged," Gilgeous-Alexander said of his turnovers. "They played harder than us tonight as well, and when a team plays harder, they usually turn the other team over."
Gilgeous-Alexander acknowledged that he and his teammates were thinking about the possibility of clinching a championship leading up to the game.
"Now, we didn't play like it at all," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "That's why the night went the way that it did. We got exactly what we deserved, what we earned. We have to own that."
As far as Gilgeous-Alexander's mindset going into Game 7, it's about keeping things as simple as possible.
"One game. Winner takes all. Give it your best shot. Bring your ‘A’ game. I don’t try to complicate it," Gilgeous-Alexander told Andscape's Marc J. Spears.
When Gilgeous-Alexander was sitting on the bench with his fellow starters for the entire fourth quarter of Game 6 because the score was so lopsided, Spears noted the 2024-25 NBA MVP heaped praise on his teammates the players who were on the floor for their effort and what it taught him going into Sunday's matchup:
"Thinking about what you could have did better or what I could have did better tonight. Also, watching the group on the floor was impressive. They were great. They haven’t played all series, then they go out there and play as hard as they did. It was inspiring. They were really good tonight. Kind of taught me a lesson. Then just trying to do everything I can, everything I can learn from them to get ready for the next game."
A hallmark of Oklahoma City's success all season has been protecting the ball on offense and forcing turnovers by the other team. The Thunder's plus-5.3 turnover differential in the regular season was the best by any NBA club in 37 years, per John Schuhmann of NBA.com.
The Thunder's 21 turnovers in Game 6 were their most in 104 games between the regular season and playoffs.
The 91 points also marked the fewest in a game for Oklahoma City in what has otherwise been a historic 2024-25 campaign for the franchise. Its also just the second time in 22 playoff games the club failed to score at least 100 points.
Looking ahead, these could be used as reasons to be optimistic about the Thunder going into Game 7. This was as bad of an offensive game as they have played all season, so it stands to reason that won't happen again playing at home.
Another reason to be encouraged is that the Thunder defense still played well. The Pacers only shot 41.3 percent from the field, but they had 18 more field-goal attempts because they forced 11 more turnovers and had seven more offensive rebounds than Oklahoma City.
If the Thunder can maintain that level of defense and get their offense back to the level it has been for most of this series, they can win on Sunday. They faced this scenario earlier in the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets when they lost Game 6 on the road, then dominated in a 125-93 win in Game 7 at home.
