OKLAHOMA CITY -- Go ahead and join the silly chant, if you so please.
“Freee-throoow merrrchaaant,” Indiana Pacers fans will probably boom at Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander when these NBA Finals, tied, one game apiece, relocate to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
Also feel free to keep engaging in online discussions about how Gilgeous-Alexander, 26, the current league MVP, just isn’t aesthetically pleasing enough to warrant the hype that surrounds him.
They are fool’s errands, to be sure. But for the vast majority of this season, in which he has dazzled with his smooth style and misdirection magic, they have been happening nonetheless. Maybe the basketball-loving folks in the Hoosier State will end this disrespectful trend.
As Gilgeous-Alexander’s 34-point, 8-assist, 5-rebound outing in the Thunder’s revenge game, a 123-107 win in Game 2 on Sunday night, reminded basketball fans, there is a drumbeat quality to his game that often undercuts the public’s ability, or willingness, to appreciate what he does. He gets to his spots, reads (and confuses) the defense, then makes the proper choice on whether to score or pass with an accuracy that is remarkable and unspectacular all at once.
He does not soar like Ja Morant or Anthony Edwards for the viral dunk or fill up the box score in the same fashion as Nikola Jokic, but he has managed to end all of their seasons during this seven-week playoff stretch, which is quietly on a pace to be one of the best in NBA history. Not that his haters have bothered to notice.
Let’s start with the micro. By scoring a combined 72 points in his first two NBA finals games, Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed Allen Iverson (71 points) as the leader in that niche category.
It is worth noting because there was some revealing criticism of his Game 1 performance, when he scored 38 points in the Thunder’s jaw-dropping loss but had just three assists (while shooting 14 of 30 from the field).
Everyone is fair game to scrutinize after a loss of that magnitude, and the fact that he missed his last two shots in the final 66 seconds was an understandable part of that discussion, but it’s still mildly hilarious that any player could be deemed not good enough with a borderline 40-burger.
Now for the macro.
Through 18 playoff games this year, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.8 points, 6.8 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals a game. Do you know how many players have ever had a postseason like that, hitting those marks (30-6-5-1.8) during a playoff run in which they played at least 16 games? Two. And you are probably familiar with their names.
Michael Jordan (four times) and LeBron James (twice). That’s the list -- for now.
That comes, of course, after Gilgeous-Alexander led the league in scoring during the regular season while leading the Thunder to a 68-14 mark, the No. 1-ranked defense and the league’s best point differential in history. So yeah, maybe it’s time to stop with all the nitpicking and give this young man his flowers.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle certainly did after Game 2.
About Gilgeous-Alexander, he said, “You can mark down 34 points before they even get on the plane tomorrow for the next game. The guy’s going to score. We’ve got to find ways to make it as tough as possible on him.”
One might say that’s a different way of deeming Gilgeous-Alexander unstoppable.
Yet even with Carlisle’s comment, it is notable that he was not asked a single question about Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance. He shoehorned that insight into a question about the Thunder’s offensive depth. It was as if Gilgeous-Alexander’s massive part in the Thunder’s Game 2 win was such a given that it was not even worth discussing.
But that consistency should not be taken for granted. As these past two series have shown, there is a difference between a superstar like Gilgeous-Alexander, who shows out almost every single night, and stars like Edwards and Tyrese Haliburton, who are more of a roller-coaster experience.
Haliburton’s incredible game winner in Game 1 disguised that he was largely ineffective leading up to that magical moment. Three nights later, with Lu Dort and Cason Wallace making him so miserable throughout, he was missing in action when it mattered most (3 points and 3 assists in the first half) before finishing with 17 points, 6 assists and 5 turnovers.
Two games in, here’s how the battle of the point guards is sizing up: Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 36 points, 5.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2 turnovers per game. Haliburton is at 15.5 points, 6.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds, 1 steal and 4 turnovers per game.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault is the least shocked observer of them all.
“Yeah, unsurprising at this point,” he said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “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.”
For Gilgeous-Alexander’s part, the work continues from here. Whether people are going to appreciate it or not.
“I’m being myself,” he said. “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. Now, I would trade the points for two W’s, for sure. But this is where our feet are. This is where we are. You can’t go back in the past. You can only make the future better. That’s what I’m focused on.”