Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander admits ‘toll’ of sweeping playoff rivals

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s dominant playoff run thus far continues; through the first two rounds, the Thunder have barely suffered a scratch, as they once again swept the opposition, this time the Los Angeles Lakers, on their way to the Western Conference Finals. On Monday night, however, the Lakers definitely made the Thunder earn it, as OKC had to pull out a few stops in the clutch to take a 115-110 win in Game 4.

Now, the Thunder are about to play the waiting game yet again. In the first round, they were the team that first clinched their spot in the semifinals after they swept the Phoenix Suns. They had to watch the Lakers-Houston Rockets series closely as they awaited their matchup for the next round.

Similarly, they have to wait for the winner of the San Antonio Spurs-Minnesota Timberwolves series on the other side of the bracket. That series is currently tied at 2-2 and could just as easily go to seven games. This, as per Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, can take its toll as well, as he’ll now have to combat rust over the next few days.

“It’s been tough personally, battling the rust. The rust has been taking its toll on me. Gotta stay in the gym. Trust the work. It’ll all even out,” Gilgeous-Alexander told Allie Clifton of NBA on Prime in his postgame interview.

"The rust has been taking its toll on me. Gotta stay in the gym."

SGA after the Thunder completed back-to-back sweeps in the playoffs. pic.twitter.com/xaaPUUpKdZ

— ESPN (@espn) May 12, 2026

This is exactly the kind of problem that isn’t even a problem to begin with. It’s a luxury for the Thunder to get this much rest especially when the games came fast in the semifinals, with only one day of rest in between every game.

It’s hard to feel too bad for Gilgeous-Alexander, as this is a textbook case of “suffering from success”. The Thunder star, of course, was able to navigate how to deal with rust prior to this Lakers series so he shouldn’t have as much trouble dealing with it this time around.

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