Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set a record for the most combined points by a player in his first two NBA Finals games as the Thunder defeated Indiana to even their series at 1-1, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPN. After taking 30 shots to reach 38 points in Game 1, Gilgeous-Alexander was more efficient on Sunday, going 11-of-21 from the field and 11-of-12 from the foul line en route to a 34-point performance.
MacMahon notes that SGA also established a franchise record with his 12th 30-point game of this year’s playoffs, topping the mark set by Kevin Durant in 2014.
“I’m being myself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I don’t think I tried to reinvent the wheel or step up to the plate with a different mindset. Just try to attack the game the right way. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”
The reigning MVP and the league’s best regular season team both looked more in character in Game 2 than they did while letting a 15-point fourth quarter lead slip away in the opener. Gilgeous-Alexander resumed his normal role as a facilitator as well as a scorer, handing out eight assists after having just three in Game 1. His assists went to seven different teammates, and six of them resulted in made three-pointers.
“He’s just getting better and better, which is very impressive,” Jalen Williams said. “Obviously, he’s the MVP of the league. For him to continue to get better is good. He just trusts us to make plays. I think when your best player is out there and he trusts you to make a play, it just gives you more confidence. He understands that. I think that’s one of the roles he’s gotten really good at and grown at, and it just makes our team better.”
There’s more on the Thunder:
- Defensive sparkplug Alex Caruso delivered 20 points off the bench to help keep the game out of reach, per Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. It was a scoring mark he didn’t achieve in any game during the regular season, and it was more than any Pacers player was able to muster. “He’s one of those guys who you know is going to bring it every single night,” Chet Holmgren said. “Whether he’s 22 or 30, doesn’t matter. He’s going to bring it. I feel like, as a collective, we really feed off of that. Then also his ability to kind of process things that are happening out there and relay it and communicate it to everybody else is really important for us.”
- After subpar showings in the series opener, Williams and Holmgren delivered more typical outings in Game 2, notes Will Guillory of The Athletic. Williams contributed 19 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Holmgren added 15 points and six rebounds. Aaron Wiggins chipped in 18 points off the bench as the Thunder reserves outscored the Pacers’ reserves, 48-34.
- Coach Mark Daigneault stuck with his smaller starting lineup from Game 1 — with Cason Wallace replacing Isaiah Hartenstein — but he made a few adjustments on Sunday, observes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Holmgren and Hartenstein saw time together, allowing Oklahoma City to be more competitive on the boards, and rookie guard Ajay Mitchell was barely used.
Go FTA!
I will never understand why Indiana doesnt double or trap Shai, let other OKC players beat you!!!!
Sure other guys can eventually knock down threes, but you are literally letting Shai average 36ppg with EASE. Let someone else beat you…
That’s the thing with him. It’s easier said than done.
Sure but Indiana’s execution has been very poor imo
The guy has so many moves its hard to defend him. They might should go to a zone defense. OKC is just so deep of a team that you need to rotate defensive players. Pacers may need to go to a slow down defense so they can set their defense because you are not going to out run OKC.
Defense was tougher in the 90s and they couldn’t stop Jordan, Barkley, Olyjuwon, Drexler, Malone, Hardaway, Reggie etc.
He’s a hard cover man. Really has to be a team effort. Best you can do is use different guys on him. And keep changing the defense. Make them work. Like arc89 says they are a deep team. You stop the other guys. And do your best with SGA. Pacers bench has to step. And Hali has to play big too. As the point guard he has to run a good game. And be more a scorer.
Other Pacers players have to score. Siakam, Obi, Turner, Nesmith can’t hold back now. You have to leave it all out there. We all see Thunder are a better team. Pacers have proven they can beat them. Just win the next game. All about the next game.
Chet finally woke up. Game 3 will be interesting.