Early in NBA Finals, the moment isn't too big for Canadian star Gilgeous-Alexander

Tim Reynolds · The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 09, 2025 12:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: 5 minutes ago

The infinitesimal is intelligibly not excessively large for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

These are his archetypal NBA Finals. It's hard to retrieve that sometimes. The Oklahoma City Thunder star, and NBA MVP, conscionable had a brace of debut Finals games similar cipher successful league history, with a combined 72 points successful his archetypal 2 appearances successful the rubric series.

That's a record. The erstwhile people for idiosyncratic successful his archetypal 2 finals games: 71 by Philadelphia's Allen Iverson successful 2001.

"I'm being myself," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I don't deliberation I tried to reinvent the instrumentality oregon measurement up to the sheet with a antithetic mindset. Just effort to onslaught the crippled the close way. I deliberation I've done a beauteous bully occupation of that truthful far."

His adjacent onslaught accidental isn't until Wednesday night, erstwhile the bid — the Thunder and Indiana Pacers are present tied astatine a crippled apiece — shifts to Indianapolis for Game 3 astatine 8:30 p.m. ET.

The constituent defender had 38 points successful the Game 1 nonaccomplishment to the Pacers, 34 points successful Sunday's Game 2 win. Gilgeous-Alexander, from Hamilton, has much points successful the archetypal 2 games than immoderate different 2 players successful the bid - not conscionable Thunder players, immoderate 2 players -- bash combined.

Thunder caput manager Mark Daigneault isn't taking the greatness of the MVP for granted. He's conscionable travel to expect it by now.

"Yeah, unsurprising astatine this point," Daigneault said. "It's conscionable benignant of what helium does. He conscionable continues to advancement and amended and emergence to each juncture that helium puts himself successful and that we enactment ourselves in. I thought his level crippled [in Game 2] was really, truly successful a large rhythm. I thought everyone played amended individually, and I thought we played amended collectively. I deliberation that was a byproduct."

6 assists acceptable up 3-pointers

Gilgeous-Alexander had 8 assists successful Game 2, making him the 17th subordinate successful NBA past to person that galore points and that galore assists successful a Finals game; it has present happened a full of 34 times successful the rubric series.

But it wasn't conscionable having assists. It was the benignant of assists that were key. Of Gilgeous-Alexander's 8 connected Sunday, six of them acceptable up 3-pointers. Those 8 assists were turned into 22 points successful all.

"He's MVP for a reason," Pacers centre Myles Turner said. "He's going to get off, and I deliberation that we accepted that. It's a substance of slowing him down and limiting the relation players."

Only 7 players successful finals past — Jerry West (94 successful 1969), LeBron James (83 successful 2015 and 80 successful 2018), Shaquille O'Neal (83 successful 2000, 76 successful 2002 and 72 successful 2001), John Havlicek (80 successful 1969), Michael Jordan (78 successful 1992 and 73 successful 1993), Cliff Hagan (73 successful 1961) and present Gilgeous-Alexander — person scored 72 oregon much points successful the archetypal 2 games of a rubric series.

"Shai, you tin people down 34 points earlier they adjacent get connected the level for the adjacent game," Pacers caput manager Rick Carlisle said. "The guy's going to score. We've got to find ways to marque it arsenic pugnacious arsenic imaginable connected him."

In Game 1, the Pacers bottled up Gilgeous-Alexander's supporting cast. In Game 2, they didn't. It's not elemental capable to accidental that's wherefore the Thunder mislaid Game 1 and won Game 2, but it is surely portion of the equation.

Or possibly it's conscionable arsenic elemental arsenic saying the MVP is playing similar an MVP. He's the scoring champion arsenic well, leads the playoffs successful full points, conscionable became the 12th subordinate successful league past to transverse the 3,000-point people for a play (counting regular play and post-season), and conscionable got his archetypal finals win.

"I would commercialized the points for 2 Ws, for sure," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "But this is wherever our feet are. This is wherever we are. You can't spell backmost successful the past; you tin lone marque the aboriginal better. That's what I'm focused on."

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