Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won’t try to ‘reinvent the wheel’ but he’s rewriting NBA Finals history
OKLAHOMA CITY – Go ahead and join in on the silly chant if you so please.
“Freee-throoow merrrchaaant …” the Indiana Pacers faithful will likely boom at Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander when these NBA Finals relocate for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Or, if history repeats itself, keep engaging in those silly online discussions about how the reigning MVP’s game just isn’t aesthetically pleasing enough to warrant all the hype that surrounds it.
Those are fool’s errands, to be sure. But for the vast majority of this season, in which the 26-year-old has been playing his way into the NBA annals, dazzling with his smooth style and misdirection magic while carrying this Thunder team that evened the finals with a 123-107 win in Game 2 on Sunday night, they’ve been happening nonetheless.
Maybe the basketball-loving folks in the Hoosier State will surprise us all and break this disrespectful trend.
As SGA’s 34-point, eight-assist, five-rebound outing in the Thunder’s revenge game reminded the masses, there’s a drumbeat quality to his game that often undercuts the public’s ability, or willingness, perhaps, 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 dish with an accuracy that is remarkable and unspectacular all at once.
He doesn’t soar through the air like Ja Morant or Anthony Edwards for the viral dunk or fill up the box score in quite the same fashion as the magnificent Nikola Jokić, but he has managed to end all of their seasons during this seven-week playoff stretch that is quietly on pace to be one of the best of all time. Not that his legion of haters has 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 the great Allen Iverson (71 points) as the leader in that niche category. It’s 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 games, Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 30.8 points, 6.8 assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals in these playoffs. You know how many guys 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’re 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 of all time. 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.
“(With) Shai, you can mark down 34 points before they even get on the plane tomorrow for the next game,” he said. “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 SGA unstoppable.
Yet even with Carlisle’s comment, it’s notable that he wasn’t asked a single question about Gilgeous-Alexander’s performance. He shoehorned that insight into a question about the Thunder’s offensive depth. On this night, like so many that have come before it, it was as if Gilgeous-Alexander’s massive part in the Thunder win was such a given that it wasn’t even worth discussing.
But that consistency shouldn’t be taken for granted. As these last two series have shown, there’s a difference between a superstar like Gilgeous-Alexander, who shows out almost every single night, and the 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 MIA when it mattered most (three points, three assists in the first half) before finishing with 17 points, six assists and five turnovers.
Two games in, here’s how the battle of the point guards is sizing up …
SGA: 36 points, 5.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and two turnovers per game.
Haliburton: 15.5 points, 6.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds, one steal and four turnovers per game.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault is the least shocked observer of them all.
“Yeah, unsurprising at this point,” he said afterward. “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. I thought his floor game tonight was really, really in a great rhythm. I thought everyone played better individually, and I thought we played better collectively. I think that was a byproduct.”
For Gilgeous-Alexander’s part, the (elite) 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.”
It was quite fitting that SGA made that statement while wearing his customary shades, for his future is indeed so bright that it’s blinding. He wore a T-shirt that featured the late, great John Lennon as well.
Just imagine the possibilities that lie ahead for him and these Thunder.