SGA & Jalen Williams join LeBron James & Kyrie Irving as only teammates to deliver a 40- & 30-point game in the Finals since 1980.
INDIANAPOLIS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams have done more than lead Oklahoma City to the brink of the Thunder’s first NBA championship.
They have scored their way into elite company, ranking among the most prolific tandems in Finals history.
Through the first five games against the Indiana Pacers, Gilgeous-Alexander (32.4 ppg) and Williams (25.8) have combined for 58.2 points. That ranks 10th all-time for the most points per game by a pair of teammates, with at least one game left to climb or slip on that list. The Thunder hold a 3-2 lead over the Indiana Pacers in these NBA Finals heading into Game 6 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse Thursday (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC). A potential Game 7 would be played Sunday in Oklahoma City.
The players with whom Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams share space on the list are some of the league’s most legendary. Jerry West. Elgin Baylor. Michael Jordan. LeBron James. Shaquille O’Neal. Kobe Bryant. Steph Curry. Kevin Durant. With maybe one or two exceptions, there is nothing flukey about the stars who have led their teams to titles — or valiantly fallen short — by shouldering and sharing big scoring loads.
The Thunder’s two stars seem excited to be keeping such company in their first Finals trip.
“Yeah, it’s been fun so far,” Gilgeous-Alexander said Wednesday. “I think both of us just trust each other, have the same mindset, winning mindset, want the best for each other above all. Me and him are also naturally really good friends. We talk all the time on and off the court. Always together. That helps with it, for sure.
“Then we just use our experiences together to grow. Whether I see something, he sees something, whether we feel something in the moment both being out there. We just use everything together to grow on and off the court. It’s helped us so far.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.4 points in the series, a tick down from the 32.7 that earned him the scoring title and Kia Most Valuable Player honors. He has topped 30 in four of the five games, including 38 in the opener and an essential 35 in Game 4, when he scored 15 in the fourth quarter to lift the Thunder to their comeback victory.
Wrapping up his third season, Williams, 24, earned All-NBA, All-Star and All-Defensive honors, his versatility showing on offense as a budding “point forward” while enabling him to guard all five positions on defense. He scored 27 points in Game 4, following up with 40 in Game 5 to become the ninth player in NBA history, age 24 or younger, to score 40-plus points in a Finals game.
“He’s the quintessential modern-day wing,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “He can do everything. He can attack off the dribble. He can make plays and pass the ball. He shoots the three. He shoots midrange. He finishes. He gets and-ones. He creates a constant vertical threat on the rim.”
Many of the high-scoring tandems in Final history have been of the Batman-and-Robin type, a teaming of an MVP-caliber player and a sidekick. Think Jordan and Pippen, James and Irving. Others have been closer to equal partners, such as O’Neal and Bryant, Curry and Durant or Baylor and West.
Catch and shoots. Backdoor cuts. Transition slams. Jalen Williams shows his full repertoire while scoring 40 points in Game 5.
For now, Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams fall more into the former category, though it could morph into something more even in the future.
“What helps is that we both want to win,” Williams said. “So for me and him, it doesn’t really matter who is the leading scorer or who is not. I think it also helps pecking order-wise … he’s the MVP. If he wants to shoot a lot of shots, I’m going to tell him ‘good shot’ every time.
Whether their points production is more art than science – organic in-game circumstances vs. the intended result of OKC’s system – the Thunder are thriving with their joint venture.
“They have unbelievable skill sets,” OKC coach Mark Daigneault said. “A lot of it for us is just trying to help every player on our team maximize their individual style of play. Obviously, those two guys have very broad styles because of all the things they can do.
“They’re great players, but they do it inside the team. It doesn’t suffocate our team. It doesn’t take away from our other players’ abilities to impact the game. That’s why the team’s been successful.”
Here are the 15 most potent scoring duos in Finals history, ranked by combined points per game:
1. Elgin Baylor (40.6 ppg) and Jerry West (31.1)
Combined ppg: 71.7
Team: 1962 Los Angeles Lakers
Baylor scored at least 30 points in all seven games, including 61 in Game 5, which stands 64 years later as the record for most points in a Finals game.
2. Elgin Baylor (33.8) and Jerry West (29.5)
Combined ppg: 63.3
Team: 1963 Los Angeles Lakers
A pattern was being established as L.A.’s two great scoring stars excelled but were beaten again by the Boston Celtics. It would happen three more times in the next five years.
3. Shaquille O’Neal (36.3) and Kobe Bryant (26.8)
Combined ppg: 63.1
Team: 2002 Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers completed a three-peat by sweeping the Nets, and O’Neal joined Michael Jordan in winning his third consecutive Finals MVP award.
Shaquille O'Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers completed their three-peat with a 2002 NBA Championship.
4. LeBron James (33.6) and Kyrie Irving (29.4)
Combined ppg: 63.0
Team: 2017 Cleveland Cavaliers
Both teams in this Finals, won by Golden State in five games, featured tandems who made this list. Irving’s 40 points in Game 4 helped the Cavaliers spoil the Warriors’ bid to run the postseason table (16-1).
5. Michael Jordan (41) and Scottie Pippen (21.2)
Combined ppg: 62.2
Team: 1993 Chicago Bulls
Jordan’s 55 points in Game 4 rank as the second-highest total in a Finals game. He had four straight with 40+ to cap the Bulls’ first three-peat and win the third of his six Finals MVP trophies.
6. Kevin Durant (35.2) and Stephen Curry (26.8)
Combined ppg: 62.0
Team: 2017 Golden State Warriors
The Warriors’ duo averaged one point less than the Cavs’ James and Irving, but their deeper team outscored Cleveland by 34 points in the five-game series.
7. Giannis Antetokounmpo (35.2) and Khris Middleton (24)
Combined ppg: 59.2
Team: 2021 Milwaukee Bucks
The Bucks became the fifth team to overcome a 2-0 series deficit, winning Milwaukee’s first championship in 50 years. Antetokounmpo also averaged 13.2 rebounds and five assists while shooting 61.8% overall, the first player in Finals history to average 30/10/5 while making 60% of his shots.
Relive all of jaw-dropping, iconic and historic moments from Giannis Antetokounmpo's unforgettable 2021 NBA Finals!
8. Rick Barry (40.8) and Jim King (18.3)
Combined ppg: 59.1
Team: 1967 San Francisco Warriors
This was the Finals equivalent of Wilt Chamberlain and teammate Al Attles combining for 117 points on March 2, 1962. Barry, a Hall of Famer, was one of the greatest scorers in NBA and ABA history, while King was a journeyman who averaged 11.1 points that regular season and 7.2 in his career.
9. Jerry West (33.9) and Elgin Baylor (25)
Combined ppg: 58.9 ppg
Team: 1966 Los Angeles Lakers
The two Lakers switched spots as top scorers, but with familiar results, Boston winning its eighth consecutive title. L.A. fought back from trailing 3-1 in the series, but Baylor shot 6-of-22 for just 18 points in Game 7.
10. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.4) and Jalen Williams (25.8)
Combined ppg: 58.2
Team: 2025 Oklahoma City Thunder
The two Thunder players have scored 51% of their team’s points so far in this year’s Finals. That’s a far different approach from Indiana’s shared attack — Pascal Siakam (20.6 ppg) and Tyrese Haliburton (15) have teamed up for just 32.5% of the Pacers’ points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 35 points as the Thunder rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Indiana, 111-104.
11. Shaquille O’Neal (33) and Kobe Bryant (24.6)
Combined ppg: 57.6
Team: 2001 Los Angeles Lakers
Losing Game 1 in overtime as Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson scored 48 was all the wake-up call the Lakers needed as they swept the next four games for the middle title of their three straight.
12. Jerry West (31.3) and Elgin Baylor (26.2)
Combined ppg: 57.5
Team: 1968 Los Angeles Lakers
Boston’s Bill Russell won in his first season as player/coach, beating his old rivals again. West and Baylor were overshadowed in the Game 6 clincher when John Havlicek (27.3 ppg) scored a series-best 40 for the Celtics.
13. LeBron James (29.7) and Kyrie Irving (27.1)
Combined ppg: 56.8
Team: 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cavaliers fought back to become the first champion to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Finals. And James became the first player in any playoff series to lead all participants in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.
LeBron James fulfills his promise to Cleveland and brings the Cavaliers their first NBA championship ever in a classic Game 7.
14. Michael Jordan (35.8) and Scottie Pippen (20.8)
Combined ppg: 56.6
Team: 1992 Chicago Bulls
Jordan set the tone by scoring 35 points in the first half of Game 1. He had 46 in Game 5, then 33 when the Bulls erased Portland’s 15-point lead over the final quarter of Game 6.
15. Stephen Curry (30.5) and Klay Thompson (26)
Combined ppg: 56.5
Team: 2019 Golden State Warriors
The Warriors began the Finals dreaming of a three-peat but ended it losing all three home games, as Curry and Thompson’s combined 51 points could not match four Toronto players — Kyle Lowry 26, Siakam 26, Kawhi Leonard 22 and Fred VanVleet 22 — who posted a total of 96.
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Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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