Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went 6-of-18 in Game 6. Max Kellerman knows why. The final game of the Western Conference Finals is underway in Oklahoma City.

Just before the biggest game of the season till now, Kellerman used his Game Over podcast to talk about the real issue: SGA’s flopping. But Kellerman doesn’t just blame the two-time MVP.

“That’s not really SGA’s fault,” Kellerman said. “That’s the league and the refs’ fault for allowing him to get away with it. He’s going to take what you give him. If he flops and he gets the call, why would he stop? He’s smart, right?”

In 2012, when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook led the Thunder to the NBA finals. Back then, their style of play was not questioned. They made the NBA Finals because they just outplayed teams. Today, OKC is in a similar big moment, but everyone is talking about SGA hunting for fouls instead of just playing.

Kellerman says SGA needs a new plan for this final game.

“You’re at home, you’re the defending champ. It’s a Game 7. Everything’s on the line. Get it done. Or if you don’t get it done, go out swinging in that fourth quarter. That’s all I’m saying.”

Game 6 showed why fans are worried.  Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shot 6-of-18 for 15 points and was minus-28 in 28 minutes on the floor. That is very rare for him. Before this series, he scored 20 or more points in 140 straight regular-season games.

The Thunder never led in Game 6, absorbing a 20-0 third-quarter run from San Antonio. Victor Wembanyama poured in 28 points and 10 rebounds in just 28 minutes. The pattern in this series has been binary and unforgiving: the Thunder are 3-0 when SGA outscores Wembanyama, and the Spurs are 3-0 when Wembanyama outscores Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

Kellerman compared SGA’s style to James Harden. It was not a compliment.

“Players like that I’m a little suspicious of,” he said. “Harden had games on the road in the playoffs that he could have won. And I remember certain examples of him clearly looking for the call instead of trying to hit the shot. So the shot doesn’t go in, he doesn’t get the call, and he’s upset.”

The point is clear. The foul-drawing habit that works in the regular season. It even works in earlier rounds in the playoffs. However, it can become a crutch precisely when a player needs to manufacture buckets without the luxury of official intervention.

History says SGA can deliver, the series says otherwise

The counterpoint to Kellerman’s concern is real and documented. SGA has won big games like this in the past. He won two home Game 7s recently. Shai scored 35 points to beat Denver in the second round in 2025. He also had 29 points and 12 assists to win the Finals last year, so he knows how to clinch a series decider.

Meanwhile, road teams have won four straight and six of the last ten conference finals Game 7s. Playing at home is not a safety net.

Wembanyama, meanwhile, has spent the week channelling his own urgency. He didn’t speak with reporters after Game 5, but addressed teammates in the locker room in terms that Harrison Barnes described as having “an effect” when backed by the Game 6 performance that followed. 

Kellerman is not saying SGA cannot win. He is just saying the star has to drop his bad habits for one night. The NBA and the referees created this problem by rewarding his flops. But Game 7 is different. If SGA wants to get back to the Finals, he has to stop looking for whistles and just go score.