"He Shut Me Up": Chet Holmgren Forced to Eat His Own Words After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Ice-Cold Finish in OKC’s Victory Over Grizzlies

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is having yet another MVP-worthy season, leading the best team in the NBA from the front. The reigning MVP has been doubted throughout his career, and he has been able to deliver. But when his own teammate Chet Holmgren cast doubt on his killer instinct, SGA had the coldest reply.

On Sunday, the OKC Thunder rallied from a 19-point deficit to beat the Memphis Grizzlies by 114-100, behind SGA's heroics. After the game, Chet Holmgren revealed how Gilgeous-Alexander shut him up with back-to-back 3-pointers in the crunch time.

After the Grizzlies cut the lead to just 5 points with four minutes remaining in the game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 2 back-to-back 3-point shots, trying to extend the lead. Holmgren revealed that during the Thunder timeout, he suggested that his team should attack the paint, but SGA came back and hit two back-to-back 3-point daggers.

"He shut me up. He missed the two threes right before that. I was saying in time out, 'we got to put some rim pressure and give them a chance to mess up'. And then he comes out and bangs two," Holmgren said in the postgame interview.

"So, he shut me up, and that's what he does - took the game over, made big plays down the stretch. Nothing new, nothing surprising."

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with a game-high 35 points on 50.0% shooting. He also recorded 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in 35 minutes. Homlgren also added 21 points and 7 rebounds.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn't happy with the way Thunder won the title

After last season's title win, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander joined the elite company of players who have won league MVP and the Finals MVP title in the same season. The Thunder remained the best team throughout the season and ended the season as the best team, winning the first franchise title since shifting to Oklahoma.

However, SGA told The Athletic's Sam Amic that he wasn't happy with the way his team won the NBA title.

"Honestly speaking, I didn't like the way we won, if that makes sense," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I didn't think we won an NBA championship playing our best basketball. That was the first time we'd been that far in the playoffs, so it was a learning experience for us."

"But it takes another level of focus, discipline, assertiveness, aggression to be who we were in the regular season, and do that throughout the postseason."

OKC Thunder is once again the title favorite this season, but the competition is bigger compared to last season.