Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the verge of reaching a major scoring milestone this Sunday night. The reigning NBA MVP is just two points shy of 3,000 points for the season, combining both regular season and playoffs. This achievement has only been reached 24 times in NBA history, with legends like Michael Jordan hitting it 10 times and Wilt Chamberlain five times. If Gilgeous-Alexander reaches this mark, he’ll become the 12th player to do so.
Despite the personal milestone, Gilgeous-Alexander’s main focus for Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers is securing his first finals win. “I don’t play for the individual stuff,” he said. “I play to win. That’s always been my goal.”
The Thunder, who finished the regular season as the NBA’s top seed with a 68-14 record, narrowly lost Game 1 to the Pacers, 111-110, and with it, the home-court advantage. If Indiana wins Game 2, they’ll be heavy favorites to take the series. Historically, only the 1993 Chicago Bulls and 1995 Houston Rockets have won the first two games of the finals on the road and gone on to claim the championship. Teams leading 2-0 in the finals have won the series 86.5% of the time.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton said their approach remains focused on taking things one day at a time, despite outside pressure. “It’s hard with social media and people constantly talking about what happens if you win the next game or the series,” he said.
The Finals will shift to Indianapolis for Games 3 and 4, scheduled for Wednesday and Friday.
