Cooper Flagg Gets a Shot at the West’s Toughest Test
This was already an easy ESPN game to sell: two-time reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander visiting reigning Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg. It still is, assuming Flagg’s shoulder is still holding up. But Oklahoma City’s win over the Clippers on Sunday came with a brutal price. Jalen Williams fractured his fibula and dislocated his ankle, and Cason Wallace tore his shoulder labrum. Both need surgery. Wednesday is now our first national look at how much help Shai has left.
The Thunder won the title in 2025, won 64 games last season, and came one Game 7 short of another Finals trip. Dallas went 26–56, then hired National Champion coach Dusty May to help build around Flagg and Kyrie Irving. One team knows exactly what their standard is. The other is still trying to figure out how quickly they can get there.
The Thunder have started 3–0 by making life miserable for just about everyone they’ve played. They held Denver to 84 points and forced 26 turnovers against the Clippers. Shai scored 34 on Sunday, but OKC’s real trick is that the pressure comes from everywhere. Chet Holmgren protects the rim, Alex Caruso gets into ballhandlers, and one mistake can turn into points before you’ve even figured out where the ball went.
Now Williams’ scoring and Wallace’s perimeter defense are gone for the foreseeable future. Dort, Wiggins, and Joe left over the summer, too. That puts a whole lot more on Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain, and even more on Shai. He’s good enough to carry that load for a night. Doing it while the team figures out what they want to be for the rest of this season is a very different question.
Dallas has a few ways to make this interesting. Flagg scored 32 in the opener against Houston and was filling up the box score in Indiana before hurting his left shoulder. He missed Saturday’s loss to San Antonio, then came back Monday and scored 29 in a win over the Heat. Irving, playing again after nearly 19 months away, had 24 against the Pacers. If both are available Wednesday, Irving can give Flagg a second creator when OKC starts crowding the paint.
But the late-game test I keep coming back to is: can Dallas keep the ball long enough to actually use those two? The Mavericks turned it over 21 times against the Spurs, who turned those mistakes into 26 points. Give the Thunder that many extra chances and Shai might not even need a dramatic finish. Take care of the ball, though, and Dallas can make Shai work in the half-court without Williams next to him.
I see the Thunder winning this one pretty comfortably. Shai's still the closer I trust most, and OKC’s defense has earned that trust.
All stats courtesy of NBA.com.
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