The Oklahoma City Thunder saw their championship hopes end with a Game 7 defeat to Victor Wembanyama's San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, falling one step short of the NBA Finals.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 35 points in Game 7, doing his best to keep the Thunder's season alive. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)Entering the postseason, Oklahoma City was widely regarded as the team to beat after cruising to a dominant 64-win regular season and emerging as a leading title contender. They breezed through the opening two rounds of the postseason, dispatching both the Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers in dominant sweeps.Their toughest test came in the Western Conference Finals, where the 62-win Spurs mounted a comeback from a 3-2 series deficit to capture the series and end Oklahoma City's title bid.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did everything he could to keep Oklahoma City alive, pouring in a game-high 35 points in Game 7. However, his standout performance wasn't enough to prevent the Thunder from suffering an eight-point defeat.SGA makes honest admission after season-ending defeatIn the aftermath of the loss, he spoke quite frankly about the disappointment, acknowledging that the team and he himself had failed to achieve the championship goal they had set for themselves.“It was a failure. I failed at my goal. I didn't achieve what I wanted to achieve,” he said.However, the Oklahoma #2 r also viewed the defeat as a valuable learning experience. “But through those experiences, I learn the most about myself and make the greatest amount of increases in my career when I fail,” he added.His comments concluded with a message that left the exact cause of the hi failure to achieve goals open to interpretation.“And I look at this no different. I didn’t get where I wanted to go this season. There’s a reason for that, now I have to look at that reason and try to make sure that it never happens again,” the 27-year-old said, without specifying what he believed that reason to be.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander faced criticism through playoffsShai Gilgeous-Alexander faced intense scrutiny throughout the playoffs for two main reasons. First, he drew criticism over allegations of flopping to earn trips to the free-throw line, reigniting a long-running NBA debate.Also read: Victor Wembanyama, Spurs get positive update from NBA legend ahead of FinalsSecond, his scoring production dipped noticeably from the regular season. After averaging 31.1 points on 55% shooting and winning a second MVP award, Gilgeous-Alexander saw his scoring fall to 27.6 points per game in the playoffs and 25.8 per game in the Western Conference Finals.However, SGA certainly did his part in Game 7, finishing with a game-high 35 points while shooting an efficient 57% from the field.