West Notes: Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Warriors, Pelicans

Thunder

Coach Mark Daigneault said he’s not surprised Shai Gilgeous-Alexander banked in the game-winner for the Thunder’s road win over the Nuggets on Sunday.

“He’s got some poise in those situations,” Daigneault told reporters. “The game slows down for him. He’s got great confidence and he’s always at his pace, even in the most pressure situations.”

Meanwhile, Gilgeous-Alexander said any win is a good win.

“We’ve put a lot of work in, a lot of guys have been on the team for a little bit, and we try to enjoy wins as much as possible and not take them for granted,” he told reporters. “When we see guys make a play at the end of the game, the close ones are the most fun ones, the emotions are a little bit higher and it feels a little bit better.”

• The Athletic’s Shams Charania on the Thunder, via FanDuel TV: ““They’re right there on the brink of the play-in, the playoffs, and I don’t know if anyone around the league expected that.”

Warriors

Forward Draymond Green admitted the Warriors have had issues giving consistent effort throughout entire games.

“It comes down to a point of the game where you need to get stops and we haven’t,” Green said following Sunday’s home loss to the Nets, via C.J. Holmes of the San Francisco Chronicle. “We play good defensively in stretches. If you want to win, you have to play good for 48 minutes.”

Guard Steph Curry added it’s all about returning to a winning mindset for the defending champions.

“We understand that the moment is now to go on a run,” Curry said, via Joey Linn of SI.com. “But we keep hitting these speed bumps, and not taking advantage of how our guys played in Cleveland, and moments like that where you feel like this is our time to turn it up. We’re right back in this situation where you struggle to find any winning execution down the stretch.”

Pelicans

Coach Willie Green was disappointed with Sunday’s loss to the Heat, but pleased with the overall effort, given that the Pelicans remain without injured forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.

“Guys competed. They played at a high level, executed at a high level at both ends of the floor,” Green told reporters. “We came up short and we just have to take care of the basketball.”

• Ingram has missed 28 straight games with his toe injury. He did manage to practice 5-on-5 on Saturday and is “progressing,” Green said.