OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season primarily by being a dominant scorer.
In Game 5 of the NBA Finals, he showed he’s pretty good as a more traditional point guard, too. He had 31 points and 10 assists in a secondary role to Jalen Williams as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Indiana Pacers 120-109 on Monday night. The Thunder took a 3-2 lead in the series and now are a win short of their first NBA title.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the league’s scoring champion this season, and he has led the team in scoring in all but four playoff games. Even when Williams has had breakout performances, they’ve largely been secondary to Gilgeous-Alexander’s gaudy numbers.
Not this time. Williams scored a career playoff-high 40 points, so Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t need to force things against Indiana’s constant double-teams.
Gilgeous-Alexander still produced big numbers, going 9 for 21 from the field and making 13 of 14 free throws. But he was thrilled that Williams took the lead role.
“He can shoulder a load,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’ve said this before — he does so many things for us as a basketball team on both ends of the floor when he’s the best version of himself … he was great tonight. Makes a world of a difference when he’s that good, for sure.”
It makes sense that Indiana paid extra attention to Gilgeous-Alexander, who joined Kobe Bryant, Hakeem Olajuwon and Michael Jordan on Monday as the only players with 15 or more games with at least 30 points in a postseason.
But Williams solved Indiana’s defense again in his third straight game with at least 26 points. And when the Pacers tried to rally in the fourth quarter, Williams scored 11 points in the final period and Gilgeous-Alexander had nine points and four assists.
“Thought those guys played really well in the two-man game,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Controlled the clock, controlled the game down the stretch, paced us ahead of them.”
It’s all part of Gilgeous-Alexander’s master plan. After last season’s loss to Dallas in the Western Conference semifinals, Gilgeous-Alexander talked about stepping back a bit at times to help his teammates develop so they could be ready to help him at critical times.
It all clicked for Williams at just the right time. He made 14 of 25 field goals and 9 of 12 free throws on Monday night. He said he’s thankful to be in a position where his teammates want him to succeed.
“I’m just in a really, really good situation that’s allowed me to grow as a player at a more rapid rate because I’m not worried about what if I fail,” he said. “I know I have guys that pick me up when I fall short. I try and do the same thing for them. I think our team chemistry’s something that’s got us here, kept us strong.”
Gilgeous-Alexander believes Williams has great games ahead. He hopes the next one is in Game 6 in Indianapolis.
“I’m not surprised by his performance tonight” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Like, the kid works super hard. He has the right intentions. He deserves this moment. Now with that being said, we got one more game to win, and I know he’s not satisfied by this performance.”
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