Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points, chipping in eight assists, five rebounds, four steals and a block in his team's 123-107 win over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.
It was yet another MVP-type performance from the 2024-25 regular season MVP. But, as has been Gilgeous-Alexander's M.O. all year long, he was quick to credit his teammates before even thinking about speaking about himself. The Thunder superstar was asked about teammate Aaron Wiggins, who scored 18 points and was a +24 off the bench, during his postgame presser.
Gilgeous-Alexander's quote said it all.
Shai shouted out Aaron Wiggins for his impact in Game 2 đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/lBF0fwot3z
— NBA TV (@NBATV) June 9, 2025
"Yeah, big time," Gilgeous-Alexander said of Wiggins's performance. "It's impressive to me—he's been exactly who he's been all year throughout the playoffs. Sometimes he gets 20 minutes, sometimes he gets two minutes. Sometimes he gets 10. It's all over the place and no matter what, he finds a way to impact winning for us."
"And you need it in the biggest moments. No one-man show when you're in an NBA championship. And for him to rise to the occasion and just be who he's been in the biggest moment of his basketball career is pretty gutsy. Says a lot about the competitor and the man he is. Hats off to 'Wiggs."
While Gilgeous-Alexander carried over his strong play from Game 1 to Game 2—he's now scored 72 points, a record for a player's first two NBA Finals games—it was the strong play of the Thunder's core around him that helped lift the team to victory. In addition to Wiggins, guard Alex Caruso scored 20 points off the bench, while big men Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren poured in 19 and 15 points, respectively. As a team, the Thunder shot 48.8 percent from the field, a vast improvement from Game 1. The Pacers, after scorching the net to the tune of 46.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc in Game 1, were held to 35 percent shooting from that distance on Sunday.
"Yeah we got stops," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We ran. We capitalized on our opportunities. We just strung it together. And I think we strung it together more often than we did in Game 1, especially on the defensive end of the floor."
The Thunder will look to bring the same intensity as the series shifts to Indiana for Game 3 on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.