OKLAHOMA CITY — There is a sense of inevitability about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring ability.
“You can mark down 34 points before they even get on the plane tomorrow for the next game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said after Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 in the Thunder’s series-tying 123-107 win in Sunday’s Game 2 of the NBA Finals. “The guy’s going to score. We’ve got to find ways to make it as tough as possible on him.”
Indiana had relative success in that challenging mission when the Pacers stole Game 1. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 38 points in Thursday’s contest, but he was a volume scorer, shooting 14-of-30 with only three assists.
He responded Sunday with the sort of efficient dominance that earned Gilgeous-Alexander his first MVP award this season, when he led the NBA in scoring with 32.7 points per game on 51.9% shooting. Gilgeous-Alexander was 11-of-21 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the foul line in Game 2, consistently carving up the Pacers’ defense off the dribble in scoring all but one of his buckets in the paint or from midrange.
“I’m being myself,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, whose 72 points in the series are the most by a player in his first two Finals games, surpassing Hall of Famer Allen Iverson in 2001 by a point. “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.”
It was Gilgeous-Alexander’s 12th 30-point game during these playoffs, surpassing Kevin Durant in 2014 for the most in franchise postseason history.
“Yeah, unsurprising at this point,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s just kind of what he does. He just continues to progress and improve and rise to every occasion that he puts himself in and that we put ourselves in.”
Gilgeous-Alexander’s passing also presented problems for the Pacers. He registered eight assists in the victory. On several occasions, his decisive passes out of double-teams began beautiful sequences of ball movement that led to wide-open looks for his teammates.
“He’s just getting better and better, which is very impressive,” said Thunder co-star Jalen Williams, who tallied 19 points and five assists. “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.”
Gilgeous-Alexander dished out the ball for assists to seven different teammates. That included 3-point baskets by six different players.
“It just shows his willingness to create for other guys,” said Thunder forward Aaron Wiggins, who put up 18 points in 21 minutes off the bench and went 5-of-8 from 3-point range. “Obviously, everyone sees the points and how easy it may be for him to go out there and get 30, 40 points. When he’s out there sharing the ball, getting other guys involved, that’s when our team is at our best.”
Sunday’s outing marked Gilgeous-Alexander’s 11th game during this playoff run with at least 30 points and five assists. According to ESPN Research, that matches the most by a player during a single postseason, a feat LeBron James accomplished three times and Michael Jordan pulled off twice.
“He’s MVP for a reason,” Pacers center Myles Turner said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “He’s going to get off, and I think that we accepted that. It’s a matter of slowing him down and limiting the role players. A few of their guys stepped up tonight.”
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged a career-best 6.4 assists per game this season. He has bumped that up to 6.8 during the playoffs.
“The scoring and efficiency gets a lot of shine, but he’s really steadily improved as a playmaker,” Daigneault said.
As Gilgeous-Alexander views it, that development was necessary to pursue his goal of winning a championship.
“No one-man show achieves what I’m trying to achieve with this game,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “All the stats and the numbers, they’re fun. I don’t play in space as much as I do without having them out there. I don’t get open as much as I do without having the screeners out there. Whether it’s a slide-out or a set, those guys are the reason why we’re as good of a team as we are. I just add to it.
“The way I see it, I had no choice. They are ready for the moment, as I knew they would be, and they performed.”
