By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 55 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder won their second straight double-overtime game to begin the season, beating the Indiana Pacers 141-135 on Thursday night in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals teams.
The reigning MVP reached 50 for the fifth time, tying Russell Westbrook for most by a Thunder player. Ajay Mitchell added a career-best 26 points for Oklahoma City, which outlasted Houston on Tuesday in its season opener.
Gilgeous-Alexander fueled the decisive flurry to open the second overtime. The officials also granted a late timeout to Oklahoma City when it appeared Obi Toppin had stolen the inbound pass underneath the Thunder basket.
“It was no different than any other night. I attack,” he said. “I’m always going downhill. I had to put my aggressive foot forward.”
“Honestly, I just play and then if they stop something, I have a few counters,” he said. “If they stop those (counters), I have a few more counters and by then, usually, the shots start falling. That’s how all that happens.”
Plus, he was largely responsible for the Pacers, who are already short-handed, having three players foul out. They are without injured guards Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell, then lost guard Andrew Nembhard with a sore left shoulder in the first half. Aaron Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin, and Ben Sheppard later fouled out.
Gilgeous-Alexander was 15 of 31 from the floor and 23 of 26 from the free throw line while adding eight rebounds and eight assists. Aaron Wiggins finished with 23 points and nine rebounds. Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed 14 rebounds.
Gilgeous-Alexander now scored 90 points, the fifth-highest two-game total in NBA history. Only Wilt Chamberlain with 106 and 105, Anthony Davis with 95, and Michael Jordan with 91 had more.
Yet the 92 1/2 minutes he’s already logged are taking a toll, and that may explain why he missed shots at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime that could have won the game.
“I’m tired,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, noting that’s also why he hugged some of his teammates following the game. “But it’s a good way to break the ice, to get my cardiovascular going. It’s not ideal, for sure.”
Mathurin had 36 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers before fouling out in the first overtime. Pascal Siakam had 32 points and 15 rebounds for Indiana.
“It’s a lot, being guarded by one of the best players in the game, (Lu) Dort and then guarding the best player in the NBA,” said Mathurin, who was 15 of 17 from the free throw line and scored 36 points. “It’s definitely a challenge, but I mean, I’m up for it.”
Yet the Pacers still had enough scoring punch to stay close. Neither team led by more than seven points in a game marred by 70 fouls called on the players and a technical foul called on Indiana coach Rick Carlisle.
The Pacers hung their Eastern Conference championship banner before Gainbridge Fieldhouse opened, and the Pacers honored the matriarch of the franchise, the late Nancy Leonard, before the national anthem was played. Leonard helped save the team with a telethon in 1977. She died in September at age 93.
Up Next
The Thunder head to Atlanta on Saturday.
