The Thunder could have been celebrating their first-ever championship with the proud people of Oklahoma right now. But they crumbled in Game 6, falling 108–91 to the Indiana Pacers — a loss that has forced a Game 7, the NBA’s first Finals decider since 2016. Now, OKC has a chance to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy in front of their home crowd, but ideally, they would’ve wanted to close it out in the last game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, their MVP, fumbled, just like the rest of the team.
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SGA, who seemingly fell victim to the “Drake Curse,” put up 21 points, but his overall stat line collapsed. He managed just two assists, coughed up eight turnovers, and posted a -17 in the 36 minutes he played. Jalen Williams, the Thunder’s Game 5 hero, looked even worse.
Williams finished with 16 points, one assist, and a staggering -40, the worst single-game plus-minus in NBA Finals history. In fact, no Thunder player in particular showed up when it mattered the most. In the aftermath of the loss, Kendrick “Big Perk” Perkins urged SGA to up his game for the final showdown on Sunday.
The former Thunder center called Gilgeous-Alexander what he is: the best player in the league. But he wants the Canadian star to prove it. A dismal outing like the one he had on Thursday simply won’t cut it. “He needs to go out there and show why he’s the best player in this series,“ Perkins said, before quoting Celtics legend Paul Pierce.
“This is your home court. Paul Pierce used to always say, ‘I’mma protect my house, I’mma protect my crib. I don’t care if it’s Bron, I don’t care if it’s Kobe.‘ Damn it, you got Tyrese Haliburton coming in — he’s injured. You got to go out there and put on the show, especially after the unacceptable performance you put on in Game 6,” he added.
The former NBA champion demanded that SGA lead the charge in Game 7, summoning Pierce’s defiant playoff mindset and directing it squarely at the Thunder locker room. SGA started Game 6 strong with 15 points in the first half, but also committed five turnovers. The Pacers swarmed him with relentless physical defense, forcing mistake after mistake. In the third quarter, he coughed up three more turnovers, added just six points, and shot a dismal 25% from the field. His rhythm vanished. Head coach Mark Daigneault had seen enough. With the Thunder trailing by 20, he benched his All-NBA guard for the entire fourth quarter.
No one could deny that Gilgeous-Alexander delivered his worst game of the playoffs, hardly the momentum he needed heading into Game 7. Now, all eyes shift to OKC as the series returns home. Tyrese Haliburton limps into town, still nursing that calf injury. But none of that matters if Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t rise to the moment, just as Perkins and Pierce insist he must. Of course, he will need help from his teammates. But the MVP has to lead by example.
