The NBA semifinals have been in full swing, and the situation is already relatively clear. In the East, the Celtics lead the Cavaliers 1-0, and this group of games is certainly one-sided and there is no suspense, and the Knicks lead the Pacers 1-0 and may play six or seven games. In the West, the Timberwolves 2-0 Nuggets, the Thunder 1-0 Mavericks, the two Western youth armies are more and more likely to meet in the West, which also shows that the new era of the NBA has arrived, and the future belongs to young players such as Edwards and Alexander, but Jokic and Doncic are still the top stars in the league.
The Thunder were impressive, finishing first in the West in the regular season, winning five games in a row in the playoffs, sweeping the Pelicans, and now they may even sweep the Mavericks, who lost 95-117 in Series G1 and had no power to fight back at all. And the 26-year-old Alexander cut 29 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, and led the Thunder to create the first record in team history, which is really amazing.
According to statistics, the Thunder team sent 29 assists in this game, which is also a new record for the Thunder team in the playoffs, in 2016, when Durant was still playing in Russian City, he led the team to 28 assists in the playoffs against the Mavericks, which was the team's all-time record, and now just 8 years later, it was broken by Alexander. Moreover, it is incredible that Durant joined the Thunder in 2007 and played 91 playoff games for the team, while Alexander was traded to the Thunder by the Clippers in 2019 and led the team to the playoffs twice in the past few years.
In his five seasons with the Thunder, Alexander has improved every year. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged 31.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game, and in the 23-24 season, he averaged 30.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game, and also entered the top 3 MVP.
Compared with Durant, the greatest star in Thunder history, Alexander has a chance to help the Thunder make a new breakthrough. Durant led the team to the Finals in 2012, but lost to the Miami Heat led by James and Wade, and KD did not bring a championship trophy to the city, which is also the biggest regret of his career. Now, Alexander may lead the team to win the championship this year, and if the defending champion Nuggets are out, the Thunder will not fall behind in the face of the Timberwolves, and the strength of the two teams is evenly matched. In the East, only the Green Army has a certain competitiveness, but Tatum dropped the chain at a critical moment, and his personal performance was far inferior to Alexander.
If Alexander leads the Thunder to the top, it will be the most incredible championship in NBA history, and he will also enter the ranks of the top guards in history. Alexander has at least 10 years left in his prime, and Holmgren will also be the league's first-class interior player, and the Thunder will be terrible in the next few years, and hopefully management will not make the mistakes of 12 years ago.