Days of Thunder
OKLAHOMA CITY—He’s the most valuable player. The scoring champion. And now, an NBA champion along with NBA Finals MVP.
All in one season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has entered one of the game’s most elite clubs.
The 26-year-old Canadian is atop the basketball world now in almost every way imaginable. Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder captured the NBA title on Sunday night, beating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 to win the finals in a seven-game thriller.
He becomes the fourth player in NBA history to win MVP, Finals MVP, a scoring title and play for a champion in the same season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it once, Michael Jordan then did it four times, and Shaquille O’Neal was the last entrant into that fraternity—until now.
“A lot of hard work, a lot of hours in the gym,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “This isn’t just a win for me. This is a win for my family. This is a win for my friends. This is a win for everybody that was in my corner growing up. This is a win for the fans, the best fans in the world.”
The title caps a season where the Thunder won 84 games, tied for the third most by any team in any season in NBA history. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the season with 64 games of at least 30 points. The only other players to score 30 points that many times in a season: Wilt Chamberlain, Rick Barry, Elgin Baylor, Bob McAdoo, James Harden, Jordan and Abdul-Jabbar.
It is amazing company. With due respect to those legends, Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t care. The Thunder are NBA champions. That’s more than enough for him.
“[The title] means everything,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We rose to the moment. And here we are.”
Youngest champions
The Thunder turned in another defensive gem in Game 7.
Oklahoma City held Indiana to 41.4% shooting in the deciding game, far below the 48.4% the Pacers shot in the playoffs overall. The Thunder forced 21 turnovers and blocked eight shots.
“You have to really grind it out,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “It’s an endurance race. You have to be able to win in the mud.”
The Thunder became the youngest NBA champions since the 1976-1977 Portland Trail Blazers, with an average age of 25.68 years.
Chet Holmgren led the way with five blocks, the most by a player in an NBA Finals Game 7 since blocks were first recorded in the 1973-1974 season.
“Honestly, I never really play for records,” the 7-foot-1 forward said. “I never play for stats. All that will be forgotten. But us winning is forever. It’s immortal. I’m just so happy we were able to do that together as a team.”
Thunder guards Lu Dort, Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace each had three steals.
Indiana played most of the game without guard Tyrese Haliburton, who suffered a lower right leg injury in the first quarter. Bennedict Mathurin did his best to help the Pacers stay in the game with 24 points and 13 rebounds.
Another spectacular effort by veteran TJ McConnell prevented Oklahoma City’s swarming defense from being even more dominant. McConnell scored 16 points on 8-for-13 shooting, confounding Thunder defenders with crafty moves around the basket.
But he also had seven turnovers.
“Their pressure can really get to you, but I was just trying to be aggressive and had some uncharacteristic turnovers, but that happens,” McConnell said. “Just proud of the fight. We fought to the end. Credit to OKC. They are just really good.”
Pascal Siakam, who had caused problems for the Thunder throughout the series, was held to 16 points on 5-for-13 shooting.
Dort, an All-Defense first-team selection, gave Indiana credit for hanging tough.
“I mean, they’re a great team,” he said. “They’ve got great players. I feel like we was just trying different stuff to mess them up and to disturb them. We threw them a lot of different defensive stuff. We were just trying to slow them down.”
