The NBA has a new MVP — and a new entry on the list of unforgettable comebacks.
Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was announced as the league's MVP on Wednesday, that news coming just before the Indiana Pacers stunned the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Gilgeous-Alexander's win was expected.
Indiana's win was not.
The Pacers were down by 17 midway through the fourth quarter, then needed 23 points in the final 3:14 — the most in such a time span to close regulation of a playoff game since at least 1997 — to force overtime.
From there, Indiana finished the job and beat New York in an epic Game 1 replete with 43 points from the Knicks' Jalen Brunson, a choke sign from the Pacers' Tyrese Haliburton after his jumper at the end of regulation hit the rim, soared high into the MSG air and bounced through the net to force OT, plus had eight 3-pointers from Aaron Nesmith to make it all happen for the Pacers.
On Thursday, Gilgeous-Alexander will get his MVP trophy in front of the Oklahoma City fans before the Thunder plays host to Minnesota in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals.
SGA is the MVP
The story: Gilgeous-Alexander tops Jokic for MVP award
The reaction: SGA tears up when talking about his wife
The notebook: Jokic finishes top-2 for 5th straight year, Giannis' streak ends, LeBron gets votes
Stories of note
— Inside the numbers going into the conference finals
— Teams looking ahead: Boston,Cleveland and Denver
— Knicks-Pacers rivalry has produced memorable moments
Thursday's national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Minnesota at Oklahoma City (ESPN)
Friday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — Indiana at New York (TNT)
Saturday's national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Oklahoma City at Minnesota (ESPN)
Sunday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — New York at Indiana (TNT)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (-220) remains a big favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana (+500) is now the second choice, followed by New York (+800) and Minnesota (+850).
The Thunder are a 7.5-point favorite over Minnesota on Thursday.
Conference finals schedules
East (all 8 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Indiana 138, New York 135, OT; Game 2 at New York on Friday; Game 3 at Indiana on Sunday; Game 4 at Indiana on May 27; Game 5 at New York on May 29; Game 6 at Indiana on May 31; Game 7 at New York on June 2.
West (all 8:30 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88; Game 2 at Oklahoma City on Thursday, Game 3 at Minnesota on Saturday, Game 4 at Minnesota on May 26, Game 5 at Oklahoma City on May 28, Game 6 at Minnesota on May 30, Game 7 at Oklahoma City on June 1.
An Indy doubleheader
Mark your calendars, then start your engines.
For the first time since 2013, Indianapolis will play host to the Indianapolis 500 and a Pacers home game on the same day.
It'll happen Sunday. The race starts the day, then Game 3 of the East finals is at 8 p.m.
Award season
Now that Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the MVP award, all that's left to be announced are the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams.
The All-Defensive team will be announced Thursday afternoon. The All-NBA team will be revealed Friday night on TNT before Game 2 of Knicks-Pacers.
Other awards so far:
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins the MVP award
— Stephon Castle unanimous All-Rookie team selection
— Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year
— Boston's Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award
— Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player
— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year
— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award
— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:
48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
44 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 13
43 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9
43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
43 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Indiana, May 21
42 — Jayson Tatum, Boston at New York, May 12
42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
39 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Boston, May 12
39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
Key upcoming events
June 1 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Draft lottery
Dallas had 1.8% odds to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery — but overcame those odds and now has the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks won the lottery on Monday night in Chicago.
— Flagg, just a kid from Maine, hasn't forgotten his roots
— From Rutgers to the lottery for Harper, Bailey
— A Chinese teen is a draft hopeful, and has big shoes to fill
— Rick Welts has seen this before
Comeback season
There have been five wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
Last-second Pacers rallies
Indiana has now pulled off three last-minute rallies from at least seven points down to win in these playoffs:
— April 29: Trailed Milwaukee 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime, won 119-118.
— May 6: Trailed Cleveland 119-112 with 48 seconds left, won 120-119.
— May 21: Trailed New York 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left in regulation, won 138-135 in overtime.
Stats of the day
— Teams down by 14 with 2:45 left to play in a playoff game were 0-994 before Wednesday night (in the play-by-play era, going back to 1997). They're 1-994 now, after Indiana's crazy rally.
— Indiana improved to 30-3 this season when Tyrese Haliburton scores 20 points.
— The Knicks had never had two players score at least 35 points in a playoff game until Wednesday night, when Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns did it.
— Indiana's Aaron Nesmith set an NBA record with six 3-pointers in the fourth quarter of a playoff game.
Quote of the day
“You certainly don't take anything like this for granted. This is very difficult to do. But it's a 48-minute game. And we always say Pacer basketball is 48 minutes. And tonight, it was 53 minutes." — Indiana coach Rick Carlisle after the Pacers pulled off yet another comeback in these playoffs, this time to beat New York in overtime in Game 1 of the East finals.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
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