The moment is clearly not too big for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, Alex Caruso added 20 off the bench and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 123-107 on Sunday night to tie the NBA Finals at one game apiece.

The game plan was the obvious one.

Things were going as expected for the heavily favored Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has a chance to make a whole slew of history in these NBA Finals.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are such heavy favorites to win the NBA title that many bettors are looking for other wagers instead.

Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton weren't expected to be starring in the leading roles on the NBA Finals stage.

Oklahoma City spent most of the regular season alone atop the Western Conference standings and just kept adding to its lead.

It’s another practice day in the NBA Finals on Tuesday, with the teams in Indianapolis and tied at a game apiece headed into Game 3 on Wednesday night.

The seeds for the 2025 NBA Finals began getting planted unknowingly in 2017, when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was about to enroll at Kentucky and Tyrese Haliburton was getting ready for his senior year of high school.

The manner in which the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched their spot in the NBA Finals seemed fitting.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points, eight assists and seven rebounds to help the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94, win the Western Conference finals series 4-1 and advance to the NBA Finals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Minnesota Timberwolves 124-94 to win the Western Conference finals series 4-1 and advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.

Even the NBA MVP needs a wing man.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists in a steely performance befitting the NBA MVP, and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped back from a 42-point loss by beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 128-126 in Game 4 to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.

The Oklahoma City Thunder found all kinds of soft spots in the defense and consistently hit those open shots over two decisive wins to start the Western Conference finals.

The Minnesota Timberwolves made quite an entrance in the Western Conference finals even if their 143-101 victory in Game 3 was a late arrival.

Anthony Edwards had 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists in just three quarters to lead the re-energized Minnesota Timberwolves in a 143-101 victory over Oklahoma City in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.

Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo were the only players to appear on every MVP ballot this season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points a day after being named the NBA’s MVP, and the Oklahoma City Thunder overwhelmed the Minnesota Timberwolves again, winning 118-103 to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.

Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, the defensive player of the year this season, was also the top vote-getter for the NBA’s All-Defensive team that was revealed on Thursday.

The case for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was simple.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 31 points in the second half, and the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-88 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

If the NBA playoffs were like the NCAA tournament, chances are your brackets would be busted by now.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Jalen Williams added 24 and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled into the Western Conference finals, beating the Denver Nuggets 125-93 in Game 7.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Oklahoma City’s young core has reached its moment of truth.

The Oklahoma City Thunder went 68-14 in the regular season and swept Memphis in the first round of the playoffs.

Jamal Murray fought through an illness to score 25 points and power the Denver Nuggets past the Thunder 119-107, sending the series back to Oklahoma City for a decisive Game 7.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the youthful Oklahoma Thunder are on the verge of making the franchise’s first appearance in the Western Conference finals since 2016.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a double-digit deficit in the second half to beat the Denver Nuggets 112-105 and go up 3-2 in their Western Conference semifinal series.

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers, the top seeds in the playoffs and owners of the best regular-season records in the NBA, find themselves in dire need of wins as they host Game 5s in the conference semifinals on Tuesday night.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is mostly an expressionless, seemingly emotionless model of consistency.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder finally outplayed Denver in crunch time, beating the Nuggets 92-87 Sunday to knot their second-round series at two games each.

The Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder couldn’t wake up their offense with an early tip for Game 4 on Sunday.

A change of scenery certainly served the Cleveland Cavaliers well.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t sulk over his off night.

Jamal Murray scored 27 points and Michael Porter Jr. bounced back with 21 clutch points, leading the Denver Nuggets past the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder 113-104 in overtime Friday night for a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinal series.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Denver Nuggets 149-106 in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

The Oklahoma City Thunder set an NBA playoff record for first-half points with 87 against the Denver Nuggets in Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinal series.

The Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder looked very much like the dominant teams they were during the regular season in securing lopsided first-round playoff series wins.

Sam Presti of the Oklahoma City Thunder was announced Tuesday as the NBA’s executive of the year, the reward for building that team into a juggernaut that won a league-best 68 games this season.

Nikola Jokic had 42 points and 22 rebounds, and Aaron Gordon hit a 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds to give the Denver Nuggets a stunning 121-119 comeback win over the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinals series.

Kenny Atkinson went through a winless preseason with the Cleveland Cavaliers and wondered if his team would be any good.

Defending champion Boston vs.

Jrue Holiday of the Boston Celtics has won the NBA’s sportsmanship award for the second time, making him the fifth player in league history to win that trophy in multiple years.

Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels has been voted the NBA’s most improved player.

As the first team to move on to the second round of the NBA playoffs, the Oklahoma City Thunder get some time off.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference semifinals Saturday by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 117-115 to complete a four-game sweep.

Chet Holmgren scored all but one of his 24 points in the second half as the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 29-point deficit after Ja Morant left the game with a hip injury and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 114-108 for a 3-0 lead in the first-round series.

Memphis guard Ja Morant was knocked out of the Grizzlies’ playoff game against Oklahoma City on Thursday night with a left hip contusion after taking a hard fall under the basket late in the first half.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 27 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder dominated the Memphis Grizzlies 118-99 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

The Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers and Minnesota Timberwolves will try to avoid complacency when they return to action on Tuesday after dominating their first-round playoff series openers.

It’s now reasonable to think that Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo finished third in this season’s balloting for the NBA MVP award.

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Oklahoma City takes the No. 1 seed in the playoffs into its first-round opener against Memphis.

The Lakers often attract large betting interest anyway.

They’ll be watching in Canada, not just because of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, though the NBA’s scoring champion and MVP favorite who plays for Oklahoma City surely helps lure in fans who are north of the border.

Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis is about to join a pretty special group of rebounders.

Nikola Jokic will average a triple-double for the season, making the Denver star the third player in NBA history to pull off such a feat.

Luka Doncic scored 30 points and the Los Angeles Lakers routed the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 126-99.

Jalen Green had 34 points, Alperen Sengun added 31 and the Houston Rockets snapped the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 11-game winning streak with a 125-111 victory Friday night.

There are 15 games left in the regular season.

Michael Malone called him Superman.

Doc Rivers says he saw star potential in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander while coaching him as a rookie before the Los Angeles Clippers traded him to Oklahoma City.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic, two of the favorites for the NBA’s MVP award, showed why in a pair of exciting games on back-to-back days in Oklahoma City.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets 127-103 in a matchup between the top two teams in the Western Conference standings.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s putback basket in the fourth quarter put him over 50 points and sent the Oklahoma City crowd into a frenzy.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 51 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Houston Rockets 137-128.

Victor Wembanyama is one of the faces of the NBA, the star of the San Antonio Spurs and already one of the biggest names in basketball around the world.

The trade deadline is gone.

Victor Wembanyama has already gone up against the U.S. in international events, most notably last year’s Paris Olympics when he led France’s march to the gold medal game against the Americans.

The winning total last year: 211 points.

There are six first-time All-Stars set to play in Sunday's NBA midseason showcase in San Francisco.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 32 points and nine assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rallied from a 21-point deficit to defeat the Miami Heat 115-101 on Wednesday night.

Red Auerbach once got ejected from an All-Star Game for arguing a call.

Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo will not play in next weekend’s All-Star Game because of a strained left calf.

LeBron James got drafted No. 1 again.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t just putting up MVP numbers — he’s posting historic ones.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 50 points and the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder routed the Phoenix Suns 140-109 on Wednesday night to improve to 40-9.

The NBA All-Stars have been selected.

Stephen Curry hit a long 3-pointer with 1:52 left on the way to 21 points, Andrew Wiggins scored 27 and the Golden State Warriors beat the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 116-109.

Tyler Herro spent All-Star weekend last year vacationing.

LeBron James is extending his All-Star records.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 54 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Utah Jazz 123-114.

Kyrie Irving scored 25 points, Spencer Dinwiddie and P.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 40 points and eight assists in three quarters, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Cleveland Cavaliers 134-114 in a matchup of teams with the best records in the NBA.

Jarrett Allen scored 25 points, Evan Mobley added 21 and the Cleveland Cavaliers ended Oklahoma City’s 15-game winning streak by beating the Thunder 129-122 in a marquee meeting between the NBA’s top two teams.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 29 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder won their franchise-record 13th consecutive regular-season game, 116-98 over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is the early leader in fan balloting for the NBA All-Star Game, and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers seems well on his way toward extending his record and getting picked for a 21st time.

Here’s how the last few days have gone for the Oklahoma City Thunder: Lose the NBA Cup final to Milwaukee in Las Vegas on Tuesday, spend time airborne over four different time zones on Wednesday, win in Orlando on Thursday, win in Miami on Friday.

Thursday had a little of everything in the NBA.

The NBA’s All-Star Game is going to be an All-Star tournament this season, with the league announcing that it has finalized plans to use a different format for the upcoming midseason showcase in San Francisco.

Everyone has a lucky number in Las Vegas.

When the Milwaukee Bucks clinched their spot in the NBA Cup championship game, plenty of the team’s younger and lesser-paid players were exuberant in the locker room.

Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers has heard and seen enough.

Winning the NBA Cup won’t bring a championship parade to Oklahoma City or Houston or Atlanta or Milwaukee.

The NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals and final debuted last season in Las Vegas.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks 118-104 on Tuesday night in an NBA Cup quarterfinal.

The NBA is considering going to a tournament-style event for the All-Star Game, similar to what has been used in the Rising Stars competition in recent years.

Even though Vince Carter played only a short time in Canada, his impact on Canadian basketball is still going strong.