The All-Star guard gives the Warriors high praise after the matchup

The Oklahoma City Thunder may have the best record in the Western Conference, but they still narrowly escaped a Steph Curry-less Golden State Warriors with a 105-101 victory earlier this week. After the game, Thunder All-Star point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was asked about facing the shorthanded Dubs. His response was very complimentary to the franchise and seems to bode well for the team’s prospects this season.

“Every time you play this team it’s a dogfight,” Alexander told reporters, per Farbod Esnaashari. “They won at a high level for so long for a reason. No matter who’s out there, no matter who’s not playing, they play the right way, they play together and they play physical. We knew it was coming into the night and we did enough, barring some injuries of course, to get a dub.”

The Warriors’ organizational stability has been tested in recent years following the departures of prominent players such as Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Jordan Poole, and prominent assistant coaches and managers. However, head coach Steve Kerr, Steph Curry and Draymond Green have always been the most decisive culture creators for the team day by day. That trio appeared to tap into their veteran magic in the 2021-22 season, which ended with an NBA title. However, that magic seemingly disappeared in the last two seasons.

But maybe they have found the magic again.