Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will face LeBron James and the Lakers tomorrow night for Game 1 of their Western semifinals series at Oklahoma’s Paycom Center. Going into the teams’ first matchup of the postseason, Gilgeous Alexander spoke to the media about facing LeBron James for the first time in the playoffs.
“Playing against an all-time great like that, you get up for those games,” Gilgeous-Alexander said initially on not taking this matchup with LeBron James for granted.
“I mean, we could sit here all day and talk about all that he’s done for the game. Guy is one of the best players to ever pick up a basketball in the history of human beings. History speaks for itself.”
“The whole positionless basketball is, I guess, because of him. You guys don’t need me to sit here and tell you how great a player LeBron James is. Should be a fun matchup; it really touches off against the greatest. Obviously, he’s a little bit out of his prime, but he’s still very, very capable,” Gilgeous-Alexander concluded.
Indeed, after what James did to the Rockets in their first-round series, it is clear that the Lakers’ veteran is very capable of elevating his game and being a thorn in the Thunder’s side during this series.
He averaged 23.2 points, 8.3 assists, and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 43.2% from the field and 30.0% from beyond the arc in the first round. But Gilgeous-Alexander will likely not be the primary defender on James, since they play in different positions. A player like Lu Dort or Cason Wallace will likely take up the matchup against James.
Cason Wallace also spoke to the media about potentially being the primary defender on LeBron James throughout this series. But he sounded fairly confident to take up the challenge of whatever the Lakers throw at him.
“Not at all,” said Wallace on whether potentially guarding LeBron James has an intimidation factor to him. “I’m gonna put my best foot forward, no matter who it is. You know, [he’s a] good player, [who has] been here for a while, but doesn’t change what I do.”
Therefore, there is a feeling of confidence in the Thunder’s defensive players that they can stop LeBron James. And they can back it up as they held him to an average of 17.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in the two games they played him this season. He shot 50.0% from the field but only 12.5% from beyond the arc during this time. Thus, their confidence in their abilities is not unwarranted.
However, Gilgeous-Alexander is serving a subtle reminder that they should not take him lightly just because he is no longer in his prime. LeBron James can be a whole different beast to deal with in the playoffs as compared to the regular season. Thus, he’s simply telling them to watch out for him.
