Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the lost art of the midrange jumper

TRAILING BY A constituent precocious successful Game 4 of the NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder's play seemingly hanging successful the balance, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander brought the shot up the near broadside of the Gainbridge Fieldhouse floor.

The MVP had the matchup helium wanted and went to enactment one-on-one against Indiana Pacers helping Aaron Nesmith.

Gilgeous-Alexander darted left, taking 2 hard dribbles distant from the remainder of the Indiana defense. Nesmith stayed connected his close hep for a mates of strides with the assistance of a manus cheque earlier Gilgeous-Alexander popped the defender with a sudden, beardown forearm crossed the "INDIANA" connected his chest, a forceful capable stroke to enactment the 6-foot-5, 215-pound defender connected the spot of his pants successful the paint.

As Pacers fans protested what they believed should person been an violative foul, Gilgeous-Alexander gathered his equilibrium portion stepping backmost for a baseline 15-footer arsenic Andrew Nembhard scrambled implicit for a too-late effort to contention the shot.

The shot splashed done the net, giving Oklahoma City the pb for bully with 2:23 remaining successful its series-tying comeback win. The astir important infinitesimal of Gilgeous-Alexander's vocation was a midrange jumper, a changeable non grata for astir successful the modern NBA that has been mastered by the league's champion scorer.

It surely brought a grin to Sam Cassell, the longtime NBA adjunct manager whose playing vocation is champion remembered for a since-outlawed celebratory dance, winning 3 title rings and a mastery of the midrange.

"I gave Shai everything I had, everything successful my bag," Cassell told ESPN. "He's conscionable a bigger mentation of maine -- bigger and faster."

Gilgeous-Alexander spent lone 1 play nether Cassell's wing, but the seeds of the NBA scoring champion's violative occurrence were planted during their regular workouts successful his rookie twelvemonth with the LA Clippers. In a league that continues to inclination much and much beyond the 3-point arc, Gilgeous-Alexander has an old-school crippled successful which the midrange is the nutrient of his changeable diet.

"I cognize that's the changeable that successful today's crippled that they're giving up. They're giving you the 15-foot pull-up shot," Cassell told ESPN. "So I conscionable told him from time one, if this is the changeable they're giving, let's beryllium exceptional astatine this shot. Let's beryllium the lone subordinate successful the league that tin beryllium exceptional astatine this changeable since they're giving it to you.

"The analytic guys accidental it's a atrocious shot, but it ain't a atrocious changeable for him. We worked connected the aforesaid worldly for days. If thing spell wrong, this is your breadstuff and butter."

Defenses aren't consenting to springiness Gilgeous-Alexander the midrange changeable anymore, but he's inactive taking and making them astatine clips that marque him a rarity successful immoderate era, particularly the modern-day NBA.

In fact, Gilgeous-Alexander's midrange attempts and ratio person lone accrued implicit the past 3 seasons arsenic helium has morphed into an MVP and 1 of the top scorers successful league history.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the league with 32.7 points per crippled connected 51.9% shooting this season. It was the 3rd consecutive play helium averaged astatine slightest 30 points connected amended than 50% shooting, putting him successful an exclusive nine that includes two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Adrian Dantley and Michael Jordan.

According to GeniusIQ changeable data, Gilgeous-Alexander ranked 2nd down lone Sacramento's DeMar DeRozan successful 2-point leap shots made (261) and attempted (495) this season. Gilgeous-Alexander's 52.7% shooting connected those shots ranked 2nd down lone Phoenix's Kevin Durant among players who attempted astatine slightest 150 2-point jumpers.

Gilgeous-Alexander joined Durant and Chris Paul, a brace of aboriginal first-ballot Hall of Famers, arsenic the lone players with astatine slightest 250 made 2-point jumpers connected 50% shooting oregon amended successful aggregate seasons since subordinate tracking began successful 2013-14.

"As my game's been molded and arsenic I came into my own, I've tried to instrumentality with what works and what's comfy to me," Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN. "That's 1 of those things that conscionable has go precise comfortable. Then I've figured retired however to find definite spots successful definite situations, and present I conscionable play with it. But it each started with gathering the comfortability, and [Cassell] had a large portion successful that for sure."

EARLY IN THE archetypal 4th of Game 2, Thunder defender Cason Wallace came up to the half-court logo to acceptable a screen, forcing Tyrese Haliburton to power onto Gilgeous-Alexander. The MVP rapidly went to work, taking 1 hard right-handed dribble to marque definite Andrew Nembhard had nary accidental to retrieve and past crossing implicit to glide down the mediate of the floor.

Haliburton managed to enactment successful beforehand of Gilgeous-Alexander and seemingly had decent presumption -- for a little moment, astatine least. Then Gilgeous-Alexander gave him a subtle, beardown bump with his close enarthrosis arsenic helium picked up the dribble. Just similar that, helium had an easy, unfastened pull-up astatine the dotted line.

"People don't recognize however beardown helium is," Thunder helping Alex Caruso told ESPN. "When helium gets to 10 ft and helium hits you with a large enarthrosis and spins disconnected of you, it takes a toll connected you. It's harder than radical realize. Without being illegal, which is the key. He's ne'er going 100 miles an hour. He ever is benignant of similar conscionable successful beforehand of you oregon allowing you to chopped him disconnected truthful helium tin counter. He's a precise astute player. You're not astatine the level helium is without being an intelligence player.

"You premix that with the carnal stuff, and it's MVP stuff."

Game 2 was an MVP show -- 34 points connected 11-of-21 shooting and 8 assists -- and a midrange masterpiece by Gilgeous-Alexander. He changeable 6-of-9 connected 2-point jumpers successful the game, 4-of-8 connected floaters and layups and 1-of-4 connected 3s.

He swished midrange shots from each implicit the level implicit respective antithetic defenders. Every 1 of them was disconnected the dribble, arsenic was the lawsuit connected 248 of his 261 made 2-point jumpers during the regular season.

He made Bennedict Mathurin creation arsenic helium waltzed from the close helping to the near elbow, dribbling the shot with his near manus the full time. When Mathurin spot connected a fake crossover, Gilgeous-Alexander stepped backmost to an 18-footer connected 1 of his saccharine spots. He has several.

"You person to person aggregate spots," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "If you person spots going some ways, they person to prime 1 mode and you spell the different mode and vice versa. The much spots, the much shots, the much assortment you have, the harder it is to guard."

Gilgeous-Alexander changeable implicit Nesmith a half-step distant from that aforesaid spot, creating abstraction by dribbling down his backmost earlier stepping back. He swished 1 conscionable wrong the apical of the cardinal implicit Myles Turner, who played backmost successful fearfulness of Gilgeous-Alexander slithering by him into the lane. He deed a tightly contested turnaround jumper implicit Mathurin connected the near artifact -- a classical lawsuit of bully defense, amended offense. And helium gave Ben Sheppard a enarthrosis bump to springiness himself plentifulness of country for a fadeaway adjacent the close elbow.

"There's conscionable a assortment to his game," Thunder manager Mark Daigneault said. "He tin get to determination a batch of antithetic ways. He'll post. He'll play the pick-and-roll game. He tin iso. He finds it successful the flow. I deliberation the diverseness of that helps.

"Then the diverseness of his changeable profile. He'll pass, get to the rim, he'll sprout 3s arsenic well. It's not similar he's conscionable a fastball pitcher. He's got a batch of antithetic things that helium tin spell to that keeps teams disconnected balance."

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Thunder excavation heavy successful Game 4 to necktie series

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 14th 30-point crippled this postseason drives the Thunder to a hard-fought Game 4 triumph to necktie the bid astatine 2 apiece.

THERE ARE DISTINCT shades of Lakers fable Kobe Bryant successful Gilgeous-Alexander's game. It's intentional. Like galore successful his generation, Gilgeous-Alexander considered Bryant his favourite subordinate and studied the intricacies of his game.

"A ton, a ton -- much than anyone ever, for sure," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "The mode helium attacked the crippled is precise awesome to me, and I conscionable deliberation he's 1 of the astir skilled players ever. To person the operation of being 1 of the astir skilled players ever and to beryllium capable to onslaught the crippled the mode helium did is wherefore helium had specified a prolific scoring career. It's nary coincidence. The person I tin get to that level, the amended disconnected I'll be."

It's the blend of size, strength, savvy and accomplishment that makes Gilgeous-Alexander truthful hard to stop.

He's 6-6½ with a wingspan of 6-11½, giving Gilgeous-Alexander the magnitude to get bully looks implicit defenders. He's lean, listed astatine 195 pounds, but possesses wiry strength, arsenic immoderate defender who has felt his enarthrosis thud into their thorax tin attest. Gilgeous-Alexander is simply a "master of angles," arsenic Caruso enactment it, who uses an array of pump-fakes, pivots and different tricks to make abstraction oregon bait defenders into fouling him. And Gilgeous-Alexander has a choky grip that Cassell told him years agone would let him to power the crippled by getting anyplace helium wanted to spell with the ball.

"He's conscionable deceiving," Cassell said. "His velocity is deceiving. His quality to leap is deceiving. His full crippled is deceiving -- until helium gets up connected you. Then you say, man, helium is tall. He is stronger than you deliberation helium is."

Nembhard, the superior defender connected Gilgeous-Alexander successful the Finals, is arsenic prepared to support the MVP arsenic anybody. They've been competing against each different since they were kids increasing up successful Toronto. Nembhard knows determination are occasions that Gilgeous-Alexander volition people careless of the prime of defense.

"He's carnal and he's shifty, truthful he's hard to enactment choky with," Nembhard said. "Then erstwhile you do, helium bumps you. On apical of that, he's tall, he's agelong and helium tin get those shots implicit the apical of defenders. And he's practiced that a lot."

ESPN Research's Matt Williams contributed to this story.