OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once described himself as "very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very hard, very hard, very, very hard to stop.” This is doubly true when it comes to him forcing his way to the free-throw line.
He more than proved this during last year's title run, when he led all playoff opponents in foul shots attempted (217) and foul shots made (190).
Now, with only one game under his belt, he already ranks second in both categories with 15 and 17, respectively, with his attempts falling just one shy of Jamal Murray's 18 and one ahead of Anthony Edwards and LeBron James' 16, all of whom have already played two games this postseason.
Thunder star picking up right where he left off in 2025 playoffs
At this point, it's well understood that Gilgeous-Alexander is something of an artist when it comes to drawing contact in the act of shooting and heading to the charity stripe.
Many rival fans, players, and team personnel have grown to loathe the Thunder star's abilities, as they've gone on to dub him the league's newest "free throw merchant," a moniker that has easily been debunked time and time again.
At the end of the day, Gilgeous-Alexander is hands down the best scoring weapon the game currently has to offer, proving capable of efficiently putting the ball in the basket from inside the paint, in the mid-range, out beyond the arc, and, of course, at the foul line.
As things currently stand, 15 of his 25 points scored in the playoffs so far came from the stripe. Simply put, he's just using the rules to his advantage.
Thunder fans shouldn't want it any other way, especially when considering how effective his four-level scoring feats proved to be throughout the 2025 postseason.
Thunder looking to avoid ongoing Game 2 trend
Though the Thunder find themselves heading into Wednesday's bout against the Suns with momentum and homecourt advantage on their side following their Game 1 win on Sunday, an ongoing trend only further stresses that they can't afford to take their foot off the gas.
Following Tuesday night's round of playoff games, all but two road teams managed to come away with upset wins in their respective Game 2s.
Despite this daunting, league-wide theme, Oklahoma City is continuing to preach the idea of focusing on what's in front of them, not behind.
During a practice media session, Ajay Mitchell stressed that, above anything, "we're really focused on us," and that the main objective heading into Game 2 is to keep their homecourt advantage intact before heading to Phoenix for Games 3 and 4.
Hopefully, they'll avoid falling into this upset trap and ship out to Arizona with a commanding 2-0 series lead.
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