I’ve been writing the NBA for nearly 26 years now, and a fan since the days of seeing Wilt Chamberlain as my first game.
I don’t recall any team being as challenged as the Oklahoma City Thunder have been through their first two games this young season.
And the reigning MVP has shone like the brightest star in the sky – especially in getting to the free throw line, where 33 of his 90 points have come from in 40 trips over two games.
“I think the real highlight would be (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) at the free throw line, wouldn’t it?” said longtime NBA analyst Bill ‘The Rocket Guy’ Ingram.
Certainly was a thorn in the Houston Rockets’ side on Opening Night, where SGA’s penchant for drawing contact started the whistles early and frequent in the highly touted game that began with the Thunder getting the franchise’s first-ever and only (so far) ring in front of former Thunder star Kevin Durant.
Gilgeous-Alexander would get to the line 14 times overall, converting on 10 en route to a 35 point night. SGA missed four free throws at critical junctures in the later stages of the game, but nailed a 18’ fadeaway over Amen Thompson to push the game into overtime, and then hit critical free throws in the final seconds to seal the deal in the second overtime.
Some, including myself and Ingram, saw Opening Night as a Western Conference Finals preview before the game even tipped. The contest in it’s entirety left no doubt that’s still a possibility.
Then, on Thursday night, the Thunder traveled to Indianapolis for an NBA Finals rematch with the Indiana Pacers, who were without Tyrese Haliburton as they will be all year.
While the Pacers also stretched the Thunder to their second double overtime in as many games, it was SGA’s parade to the charity stripe that got the Thunder their second consecutive double overtime win.
Another colleague, podcaster Richard Anselmo, noted that “he has been getting the Dwayne Wade treatment from refs. Get near him and it’s a foul.” 
Gilgeous-Alexander would get to the line nearly twice as many times in Game No. 2, going 23-of-26 to nail down a 55-point night and the Thunder victory.
Somewhere, Doris Burke is saying she told us so.
But it’s not just SGA. Chet Holmgren dropped 28 points in the first game before fouling out, and Ajay Mitchell has been a force off the bench, scoring 16 against the Rockets and 26 against the Pacers.
While Jalen Williams nurses his surgically repaired right wrist, Andrew Wiggins has filled in his starting spot and 23 points against the Pacers, was 50 percent from the field and 4-for-4 from the line himself.
These contributions have the Thunder at 2-0 in their first ever title defense run, through two very exciting TV games.
And despite what the experts say, it’s not just Gilgeous-Alexander alone.
The Thunder got to the line 25 times on Opening Night versus the Rockets’ who got there more at 31, and then doubled that to 51 (shooting 88 percent) against the Pacers, who only got there 40 times (75 percent).
The Thunder-Pacers contest seemed to have more whistles as the news broke about the NBA’s betting and point-shaving scandal, as did the games I watched last night.
But let them focus on the MVP and his penchant for getting to the line. Meanwhile, against the Pacers, it was also Holmgren, Mitchell and Wiggins continuing the parade by combining for 19-of-20 from the charity stripe.
If that continues tonight, they should have no problems at State Farm Arena against the 1-1 Atlanta Hawks.
And it will likely be a normal, four-quarter affair.
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Tracy ‘T-Money’ Graven is the Senior NBA Analyst for BackSportsPage.com owner of TMoneyMedia.com and also has his posts on SubStack at allballs.substack.com
He has written the NBA, appeared as a guest on NBA Radio, and the last 25+ years for HoopsWorld, Swish Magazine, HoopsHype, the Coach Scott Fields Show, NBARadioShow.com, and also tackles the NFL and NCAA. He’s spent 25+ years in locker rooms in Orlando, Boise (CBA, G League), San Antonio, Phoenix, Denver, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta.
He has raised five kids, and now currently resides in the heart of SEC Country near Knoxville, Tennessee – home of the 2024 Men’s Baseball World Series Champion Tennessee Volunteers.
Reach him on Twitter at @RealTMoneyMedia
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