How Shai Gilgeous-Alexander learned ‘personal energy’ matters amid Thunder’s injury-laden season

Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn ImagesHow Shai Gilgeous-Alexander learned ‘personal energy’ matters amid Thunder’s injury-laden season appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here.After the Oklahoma City Thunder suffered their worst regular-season loss — a 120-96 blowout by the Dallas Mavericks — All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was at a loss for words when the Houston Rockets handed them another 20+ point demise three days later. He looked defeated watching from the bench throughout the fourth quarter of a 119-98 rout in Houston.It almost felt like the reality of the Thunder’s 2026-27 season set in amid long-term injuries to Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, and most recently, All-Star Chet Holmgren, who underwent biological treatment for a right knee injury and could miss up to two months. However, Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t bring that same energy into the third stop of Oklahoma City’s three-game road trip.Instead, he put together his best performance of the young regular season, scoring a season-high 43 points and finishing with eight assists, two steals, and one block, while guiding the Thunder to a hard-fought 117-112 win against the Cleveland Cavs. After the game, Gilgeous-Alexander addressed his attitude amid the Thunder’s injury-laden first two weeks.Watch sports LIVE with fuboTV (free trial)“The way the past week has gone, I needed to have better personal energy,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It obviously was very emotional, and a lot really fast, but I think I had to get my mind to what I could control, and where we are as a team, and where my feet were. And I think my head wasn’t where it should have been. I just tried to stay in the moment tonight more than anything, and I guess it paid off.”Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t surround himself with yes men or people who tell him he’s doing the right thing. Instead, the two-time MVP is supported by a group of people who aren’t afraid to tell him when they don’t agree with his approach, which is what Gilgeous-Alexander was most likely told after sulking on the bench during a second consecutive blowout loss.“It’s a little bit of what I was taught. Also, my inner circle, the people I have around me on a day-to-day, we don’t sugarcoat things,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We tell each other how it is and what it is. When you have people that are brutally honest around you, you get a chance to get better at things, ultimately, in life.”Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault isn’t afraid to reprimand Gilgeous-Alexander, as SGA revealed after beating the Cavs. It’s helped shape his mindset on how to guide the Thunder, coming off three consecutive seasons with the best record in the Western Conference standings, through their most trying campaign in recent years.“My head now is just trying to figure out what winning will look like with this team, and this group, as myself, and the rest of the group have come so accustomed to what winning will look like with the group that we’ve had,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Just trying to figure that out — that’s all that matters. Trying to win games and figure out what it looks like.“In the NBA, it’s a team full of NBA players. Even when you might not have “enough talent” on paper, you still do. You just have to do it a different way, and we found that way tonight. And that’s going to be the challenge going forward for the rest of the season.”While some have already ruled Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder out as championship contenders, Gilgeous-Alexander says the team’s goal of winning a second title in three years hasn’t changed despite the untimely setbacks.“For me, they don’t change,” Gilgeous-Alexander stated. “The same expectations we’ve always had as a group. I think the challenge has just changed. And how we’re going to be able to get it done is going to be a little bit different. And that’s the hard part, and the figuring out. Same expectations; it’s just the path is going to look a little different now.”The Thunder will host the Cavs in a rematch at the Paycom Center on Wednesday.Related: Thunder reserve points to Alex Caruso as the blueprint to earning playing timeRelated: Cavs vs. Thunder injury report: Alex Caruso, Peyton Watson highlight notable updates