-
Jamal Collier
INDIANAPOLIS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander let out a long exhale as he sat down and leaned back in his chair in the postgame interview room Thursday night. The Oklahoma City Thunder had just finished their second straight double-overtime game to begin the season, something no other team in NBA history had ever done.
And for the second straight game, the Thunder pulled off the victory, outlasting the Indiana Pacers 141-135 in a rematch of last season’s NBA Finals, which Oklahoma City won in an epic seven-game series in June.
“I’m tired, but it’s expected,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who set a new career-high with 55 points. “It’s a good way to break the ice on the season, shake the rust off, kind of bust the lungs up, get my cardio back.”
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault had planned to limit his team’s minutes following its grueling victory over the Houston Rockets on opening night, and there was a moment in the first overtime period Thursday night — with the Thunder trailing 118-113 with 3:16 remaining — where he said it would have been easy to pump the breaks.
But Gilgeous-Alexander, who played 45 minutes on Thursday after playing 47 minutes in Tuesday night’s opener, wanted to keep going and didn’t want to let a chance to win slip away.
“Two things. Being in the moment and understanding that we’re down five, it’s three minutes left, there’s a lot of time left,” he said. “Then also understanding the beginning of the season is just as important as the end of the season.
“The difference in home-court advantage in the playoffs could be one game and one win. We know firsthand home court in the playoffs is very helpful, especially when you go seven games. So we don’t ever want to take an opportunity for granted.”
In Thursday’s rematch, the Thunder were missing Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and Alex Caruso but got big contributions from second-year guard Ajay Mitchell, who finished with a career-high 26 points off the bench.
“Everybody has a lot of trust in him and his talent,” Daigneault said about Mitchell. “But I think the steadiness in these two environments … in both games he didn’t really blink. So we knew the talent and impact, but sometimes it takes guys a little bit, they seem a little wide-eyed. That was not the case for him.”
Gilgeous-Alexander gave Mitchell a big hug as the final buzzer sounded, in part because of the exhaustion, but also because he wanted to commend the young guard for the best game of his career.
“Different guys stepping up,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “A lot of guys were stepping up tonight. Like, to play that much last game, obviously we’re a little banged up. This team never makes excuses. It’s always ready for their moment.”
The Pacers pushed the defending champs to their limit despite playing shorthanded. Already without star point guard Tyrese Haliburton for the entire season, they also lost Aaron Nesmith, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, and Andrew Nembhard, who injured his left shoulder in the first half of the game and did not return.
Carlisle said Nembhard will get further testing on his shoulder Friday but didn’t sound optimistic, saying the injury could “potentially present some big challenges.”
Still, the Pacers were able to push the champs to the brink again, just like they did during the Finals in June. Pascal Siakam had 32 points and 15 rebounds, and Bennedict Mathurin finished with 36 points and 11 rebounds.
“Grit is what our makeup is going to have to be this year,” Carlisle said. “There are going to be a lot of challenges. We’ve just got to be able to take on these challenges on a long-term basis.”