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Par Pierre-Andréa Fraile | Journaliste sportif
Regularly criticized in recent months for his tendency to provoke opposing fouls, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander rather honored his reputation in the series against the Nuggets. David Adelman spoke frankly on the subject after Game 4.
Failing to rely on their shooting, the two stars of this series looked for points at the free-throw line. In fact, it almost turned into a caricature on Sunday. Hardly effective in Game 4 between the Nuggets and Thunder, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tried to scratch out whistles in their favor. And with varying degrees of success in similar situations:
It's crazy how Jokic & Shai are officiated differently considering that Joker is a 3-time league MVP. One would assume he'd get more superstar calls than the younger Okc guard.
— PBA insider 🏀 (@PBAinsider) May 12, 2025
Jokic is clearly fatigued & the physicality of the Okc defense doesn't help. pic.twitter.com/2WVo3EaL3J
Nuggets coach cashes in on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s refereeing
Symptomatic of the game, this sequence in the 2nd quarter caught the attention of many fans. It must be said that Jokic didn’t get the and-one he was looking for, just a few seconds after Shai got a more favorable whistle in an identical situation. Some are therefore accusing the Canadian of being favored, a view partly echoed by David Adelman in his press conference:
David Adelman: In these cases, we expect it to go both ways. If Shai is allowed to use his other arm, which he’s very good at, we expect the referees to at least allow us to have a minimum of contact with his body. It’s got to be a two-way street, given that Shai is hard enough to defend without having to take that into account.
By using his right arm to create distance between himself and his defender, SGA would benefit from a certain amount of leeway on the part of the referees. His defender, on the other hand, would be penalized for the slightest contact, according to Adelman. It’s a statement that’s unlikely to meet with unanimous approval, but one that the Denver coach inevitably deplores. In his view, such a disadvantage has a major impact on the course of a match:
David Adelman: Shai is a foul artist. He’s an exceptional player and that’s one of his main assets. You can’t let him and Jalen (Williams) spend the whole game at the free-throw line. They really manage to dictate the tempo of the game when they do.
It remains to be seen whether these words will have any influence on the refereeing of Game 5, which takes place this Tuesday and promises to be potentially decisive in this suspenseful series.
