Shai Gilgeous-Alexander must really want that second Most Valuable Player trophy.
The league’s reigning MVP has been on a tear two games into his 2025-26 season with the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. After dropping 35 points in the opener on Tuesday, a double-overtime win over Reed Sheppard and the Houston Rockets, Gilgeous-Alexander did himself one better on Thursday night in an NBA Finals rematch.
SGA popped off for a double nickel — 55 points — in a 141-135 double-overtime road win against the Indiana Pacers. While this isn’t the same Pacers squad from last season (Tyrese Haliburton is sidelined with a torn Achilles, while Myles Turner was traded to the Bucks) that stole the hearts of NBA fans, the energy in Gainbridge Fieldhouse sure felt like last spring’s seven-game championship series.