Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put the Oklahoma City Thunder on his back.
In the process of doing so, he matched Lakers legend Jerry West with a wild bit of NBA Finals history.
OKC needed every bit of SGA’s superstardom. He scored 15 points in the final 4:38 on Friday night to beat the Pacers and tie the series 2-2.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points and no assists. It’s the first zero-assist game for SGA since the 2020 Bubble.
And it’s the first 35-0 game in the NBA Finals since West.
West also did it with exactly 35 points. That was back in 1962 in a Game 7 that the Lakers dropped to the Celtics. Elgin Baylor also had 41 points that day, but a Bill Russell stat line of 30 points and 40 rebounds won the series.
SGA and West are also joined on this list by the immortal Joe Fulks, who scored 37 with no assists in 1947 as his Philadelphia team edged Chicago in Game 1 of their championship series.
It’s quite the odd stat, because it could scream ballhog, but it could also scream takeover.
Many of SGA’s assists result in 3-pointers, and OKC only made three of those on Friday, so that also limited his chances for passes to be converted to assists.
In the end, all that will matter to the Thunder is that they won.
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