Oklahoma City Thunder superstar and NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was bound to put up numbers in his first NBA Finals appearance. But through his first two games, he scored at a record pace.
He had 34 points, eight assists, five rebounds and four steals in the Thunder's 123–107 win over the Indiana Pacers Sunday to even the series at one game apiece before it heads to Indianapolis. Gilgeous-Alexander's 34-point night followed a 38-point game in the difficult Game 1 loss.
With 72 points through the first two games of the series, Gilgeous-Alexander set the record for the most points ever by a player through their first two career NBA Finals games, according to NBA PR. The honor was held previously by Allen Iverson, who scored 71 points in his first two NBA Finals games, which came in 2001 with the Philadelphia 76ers. He dropped 48 points in his NBA Finals debut, which remains the most points scored in a NBA Finals debut for any player. The 48-point performance gave Iverson's 76ers a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, which turned into L.A.'s only playoff loss that season as they eventually eliminated the Sixers and won the NBA title in five games.
Gilgeous-Alexander's heroics are nothing new for the Thunder as he averaged 32.7 points per game over the regular season on his way to the league's MVP award. Over the postseason, he's averaging 30.2 points, 6.7 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game. The Thunder now head to Indianapolis to try and claim the series lead in Game 3, which tips off Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Broke an Allen Iverson NBA Record in First Two Finals Games.