After the OKC Thunder came out winners in their recent matchup against the Golden State Warriors, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took to Instagram. The 25-year-old superstar’s post included a couple of videos and images from the victory, most notably a couple of videos of his defensive and offensive highlights against Stephen Curry.
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SGA, who returned with 40 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists on the night, seemed delighted about how he fared against Stephen Curry. The first video saw him pull off a reverse crossover over Curry which left him open for an easy jumper. The second video saw him win possession after blocking a Curry 3-point attempt.
He then rushed up-court and finished with another easy layup. The third and final reel saw SGA pull off a difficult shot over Curry, which also went in. The three clips are bound to leave any young player delighted.
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However, Curry’s former teammate, Andre Iguodala, believes that Shai might have unwantedly woken up a sleeping giant, in the form of Stephen Curry. “I love the competitive spirit but he might just have woken up a sleeping giant. I am interested to see like the next five games for the Warriors, I am gonna pay close attention to that,” he said, after initially explaining what Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had posted.
SGA’s post was, of course, not only about his performance against Curry. He posted a series of pictures from the trip to the Chase Center which also included a couple of the outfits that he wore on the day. There is little doubt that SGA was left delighted about how his day went, especially with respect to his own performance.
The youngster might have specifically included his highlights against Curry. However, that, rather than being a result of a lack of respect, might actually be due to extremely opposite feelings. SGA has worked hard consistently and has only improved in recent years, which means that he completely deserves the kind of praise he has been getting recently.
Stephen Curry generally balls out against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
There are several reasons why SGA would have been extremely delighted by the way the Warriors clash went. Apart from a win that saw his team score 130 points, it was also only the 5th time that he came out trumps against the Warriors and Stephen Curry in 16 attempts, according to Land of Basketball.
As a matter of fact, Curry averages 28 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in the 16 games he has played against SGA. On the other hand, SGA has only managed 20.1 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists.
That, alongside the fact that SGA has managed to outscore Curry only 3 of the 16 times he has faced the Warriors, means that he is bound to be delighted. The 25-year-old is one of the best young players in the league and will be hoping to balance out the equation in the coming time. That is unless he has actually woken up a sleeping giant, as Iguodala suggested.
