After posting what most agreed were a relatively "quiet" 34 points in the opening game of the NBA Finals last week in Oklahoma City, star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came back with an impressive 38 points in Game 2, on 11-for-21 shooting in a Thunder win. That brought OKC back to even with the Pacers, at 1-1, in the series.
After Game 2, SGA explained, "Every night you, me personally, try to attack the defense. You try to just make the right play. You try to make them pay for what they throw at you coverage-wise, scheme-wise. I think tonight, myself for sure, did a better job of attacking it.
"But as a whole we did a better job of attacking it. We were a little bit sticky last game. You have games like that. It sucks to be on this stage and have games like that, but it is what it is. It's where we are, right? It's where our feet are."
Jun 8, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) brings the ball up court against the Indiana Pacers during the first quarter of game two of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) brings the ball up court against the Indiana Pacers during the first quarter of game two of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center.
Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
His feet, it turns out, are in a pretty special place. That's because not only did his outburst help lead to a Thunder win, it also raised him to a league-high 548 postseason points this spring. In addition to the 2,484 points he scored in the regular season, Gilgeous-Alexander is now at 3,032 points for the regular season and playoffs combined.
That puts him in rare company, as the NBA explained in a social-media post on Tuesday.
The league's history account wrote, "Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the 12th player in NBA history to score 3,000 total points (regular season and postseason combined) in a single season Joining... Michael Jordan, Wilt Chamberlain, Luka Dončić, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Bob McAdoo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Rick Barry, and Elgin Baylor."
It should be noted that Doncic, Harden and Durant are the only players on that list not in the Hall of Fame, and that's only because they're still active.
SGA will attempt to build on his mark on Wednesday, when Game 3 tips off in Indiana at 8:30 p.m. ET.