Through 2 Finals games, it's clear that the moment isn't too big for OKC's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

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

These are his first NBA Finals. It's hard to remember that sometimes. The Oklahoma City Thunder star — and NBA MVP — just had a pair of debut finals games like nobody in league history, with a combined 72 points in his first two appearances in the title series.

That's a record. The previous mark for someone in his first two finals games: 71 by Philadelphia's Allen Iverson in 2001.

“I’m being myself,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I don’t think I tried to reinvent the wheel or step up to the plate with a different mindset. Just try to attack the game the right way. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that so far.”

His next attack chance isn't until Wednesday night, when the series — the Thunder and Indiana Pacers are now tied at a game apiece — shifts to Indianapolis for Game 3.

He had 38 points in the Game 1 loss to the Pacers, 34 points in Sunday's Game 2 win. Gilgeous-Alexander has more points in the first two games than any other two players in the series — not just Thunder players, any two players — do combined.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault isn't taking the greatness of the MVP for granted. He's just come to expect it by now.

“Yeah, unsurprising at this point,” Daigneault said. “It’s just kind of what he does. He just continues to progress and improve and rise to every occasion that he puts himself in and that we put ourselves in. I thought his floor game (in Game 2) was really, really in a great rhythm. I thought everyone played better individually, and I thought we played better collectively. I think that was a by-product.”

He had eight assists in Game 2, making him the 17th player in NBA history to have that many points and that many assists in a finals game; it has now happened a total of 34 times in the title series.

But it wasn't just having assists. It was the type of assists that were key. Of Gilgeous-Alexander's eight on Sunday, six of them set up 3-pointers. Those eight assists were turned into 22 points in all.

“He's MVP for a reason,” Pacers center Myles Turner said. “He’s going to get off, and I think that we accepted that. It’s a matter of slowing him down and limiting the role players.”

Only seven players in finals history — Jerry West (94 in 1969), LeBron James (83 in 2015 and 80 in 2018), Shaquille O’Neal (83 in 2000, 76 in 2002 and 72 in 2001), John Havlicek (80 in 1969), Michael Jordan (78 in 1992 and 73 in 1993), Cliff Hagan (73 in 1961) and now Gilgeous-Alexander — have scored 72 or more points in the first two games of a title series.

“Shai, you can mark down 34 points before they even get on the plane for the next game,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “The guy’s going to score. We’ve got to find ways to make it as tough as possible on him.”

In Game 1, the Pacers bottled up Gilgeous-Alexander's supporting cast. In Game 2, they didn't. It's not really simple enough to say that's why the Thunder lost Game 1 and won Game 2, but it is certainly part of the equation.

Or maybe it's just as simple as saying the MVP is playing like an MVP. He's the scoring champion as well, leads the playoffs in total points, just became the 12th player in league history to cross the 3,000-point mark for a season (counting regular season and postseason), and just got his first finals win.

“I would trade the points for two Ws, for sure,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But this is where our feet are. This is where we are. You can’t go back in the past, you can only make the future better. That’s what I’m focused on.”

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Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against Indiana Pacers guard Ben Sheppard (26) during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts after winning Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Indiana Pacers Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam (43) and guard T.J. McConnell (9) during the first half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (Matthew Stockman/Pool Photo via AP)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) shoots against Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Kyle Phillips)

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) questions a call during the second half of Game 2 of the NBA Finals basketball series against the Indiana Pacers Sunday, June 8, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Minneapolis motorist on Wednesday during the Trump administration’s latest immigration crackdown in a major U.S. city — a shooting that federal officials claimed was an act of self-defense but that the city’s mayor described as “reckless” and unnecessary.

Videos taken by bystanders with different vantage points and posted to social media show an officer approaching an SUV stopped across the middle of the road, demanding the driver open the door and grabbing the handle. The SUV begins to pull forward and a different ICE officer standing in front of the vehicle pulls his weapon and immediately fires at least two shots into the SUV at close range, jumping back as the vehicle moves toward him. It was not clear from the videos if the vehicle made contact with the officer. The SUV then sped into two cars parked on a curb nearby before crashing to a stop.

The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of a series of immigration enforcement operations in major U.S. cities under the Trump administration. The killing was at least the fifth linked to immigration crackdowns in a handful of states since 2024.

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That’s according to Commissioner Bob Jacobson of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.

“Keep in mind that this is an investigation that is also in its infancy. So any speculation about what has happened would be just that,” Jacobson told reporters.

The shooting happened in the district of Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who called it “state violence,” not law enforcement.

The Department of Justice says in its Justice Manual that firearms should not be used simply to disable a moving vehicle.

The policy allows deadly force only in limited circumstances, such as when someone in the vehicle is threatening another person with deadly force, or when the vehicle itself is being used in a way that poses an imminent risk and no reasonable alternative exists, including moving out of the vehicle’s path.

Police training experts have told The Associated Press that officers are generally taught not to step in front of moving vehicles to try to block them.

Training also emphasizes weighing the totality of the situation, including whether the person involved poses an immediate danger and whether the underlying allegation involves violence.

Many department policies specifically bar firing at vehicles just to stop a fleeing suspect.

Some policing experts say the rules need flexibility, pointing to cases in which people have used vehicles as weapons, including attacks in recent years where cars were driven into crowds.

The debate has been sharpened by high-profile cases, including a 2023 shooting in Ohio in which an officer fired through a windshield in a grocery store parking lot while investigating a shoplifting allegation, killing the pregnant motorist. The officer was later charged and acquitted.

For decades, police departments across the U.S. have limited when officers are allowed to fire at moving vehicles, citing the danger to bystanders and the risk that a driver who is shot will lose control.

The New York Police Department was among the first major agencies to adopt those limits. The department barred officers from firing at or from moving vehicles after a 1972 shooting killed a 10-year-old passenger in a stolen car and sparked protests.

Researchers in the late 1970s and early 1980s later found that the policy, along with other use-of-force restrictions, helped reduce bystanders being struck by police gunfire and led to fewer deaths in police shootings.

Over the years, many law enforcement agencies followed New York’s lead. Policing organizations such as the Police Executive Research Forum and the International Association of Chiefs of Police have recommended similar limits, warning that shooting at vehicles creates serious risks from stray gunfire or from a vehicle crashing if the driver is hit.

Chief Brian O’Hara briefly described the shooting to reporters. Unlike federal officials, O’Hara didn’t say the driver was trying to harm anyone. He said she had been shot in the head.

“This woman was in her vehicle and was blocking the roadway on Portland Avenue. ... At some point a federal law enforcement officer approached her on foot and the vehicle began to drive off,” the chief said.

“At least two shots were fired. The vehicle then crashed on the side of the roadway.”

The governor said he’s prepared to deploy the National Guard if necessary. He also said that like many, he is outraged about the killing, which he described as “predictable” and “avoidable.” But he called for calm.

“They want a show. We can’t give it to them. We cannot,” the governor said during a news conference.

“If you protest and express your First Amendment rights, please do so peacefully, as you always do. We can’t give them what they want.”

The president, in a social media post, said he’d viewed video footage of the incident and criticized the woman who was shot as acting “very disorderly, obstructing and resisting” and “then violently, willfully, and viciously” running over the ICE officer.

The president also described another woman seen screaming in the footage of the incident he viewed as “obviously, a professional agitator.”

“Based on the attached clip, it is hard to believe he is alive, but is now recovering in the hospital,” Trump said of the ICE officer.

“The situation is being studied, in its entirety, but the reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis. They are just trying to do the job of MAKING AMERICA SAFE.”

An immigrant rights group says on Facebook that it will hold a vigil for the woman who was shot.

“We witnessed an atrocious attack on our community today,” read the post from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee. “Community members were taken from us and an observer was shot dead. ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA NOW.”

Minnesota initially grabbed President Donald Trump’s and Republicans’ attention over a series of fraud cases where many of the defendants had roots in Somalia. Prosecutors say that billions of dollars were stolen from federally funded health care benefits and a COVID-19 program in recent years.

Minnesota has the largest Somali population in the U.S., a group Trump called “garbage” in December and said he didn’t want them in the country.

The president has also criticized Democratic Gov. Walz for failing to catch the alleged crimes.

Late last month, a right-wing influencer posted a video claiming that day care centers in Minneapolis run by Somali residents had taken over $100 million in fraud. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel then posted on social media about increased operations in the city partly targeting, as Patel put it, “large-scale fraud schemes.”

On Tuesday, DHS said it planned to deploy 2,000 federal agents and officers to the Minneapolis area.

In October, a Chicago woman was shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in a similar incident involving a vehicle, though she survived.

Almost immediately, Homeland Security officials issued a statement labeling Marimar Martinez, a 30-year-old teaching assistant at a Montessori school, as a “domestic terrorist” who had “ambushed” and “rammed” agents with her vehicle.

She was charged in federal court with assaulting a federal officer, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. But federal prosecutors were later forced to dismiss the case against Martinez before trial after security camera video and bodycam footage emerged that her defense lawyers said undermined the official narrative.

The videos showed a Border Patrol agent steering his vehicle into Martinez’s truck, rather than the other way around, her attorney said.

“I’ve seen the video. Don’t believe this propaganda machine,” Walz wrote on X, responding to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s post alleging that a woman had “weaponized her vehicle” before she was shot and killed by an ICE officer.

The state will ensure there is a full, fair, and expeditious investigation to ensure accountability and justice,” wrote the governor.

Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, says that “We have jurisdiction to bring charges, as do the feds.

“It’s a little bit of a complicated interplay but the bottom line is yes, we have jurisdiction to bring criminal charges.”

Secretary Kristi Noem, during a visit to Texas, says it was carried out against ICE officers by a woman who “attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle. An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.”

But Mayor Frey blasted that characterization as well as the federal deployment in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

“They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said.

The location is just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets in the area and a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.

During a news conference in Texas on Wednesday, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the agency had deployed more than 2,000 officers to the Twin Cities and already made “hundreds and hundreds” of arrests.

The mayor says in a social media post that immigration agents are “causing chaos in our city.”

“We are demanding ICE leave the city and state immediately. We stand rock solid with our immigrant and refugee communities,” Frey said.

The crowd vented its anger at the local and federal officers who were there, including Gregory Bovino, a senior U.S. Customs and Border Patrol official who has been the face of crackdowns in Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere.

In a scene that harkened back to the Los Angeles and Chicago immigration crackdowns, bystanders heckled the officers and blew whistles that have become ubiquitous during the operations.

“Shame! Shame! Shame!” and “ICE out of Minnesota!” they loudly chanted from behind the police tape.

That’s according to a statement from department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.

The shooting marks a dramatic escalation of the latest in a series of immigration enforcement operations in major American cities under the Trump administration. It’s at least the fifth person killed in a handful of states since 2024.

The twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul have been on edge since DHS announced Tuesday that it had launched the operation, with more than 2,000 agents and officers expected to participate in the crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Wednesday that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot and killed a motorist acted recklessly. Fry rejected federal officials’ claims that the officer had acted in self-defense.

During a news conference hours after the ICE officer shot the woman, an angry Frey blasted the federal immigration crackdown on the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

“They are not here to cause safety in this city. What they are doing is not to provide safety in America. What they are doing is causing chaos and distrust,” Frey said. “They’re ripping families apart. They’re sowing chaos on our streets and in this case quite literally killing people.”

“They are already trying to spin this as an action of self-defense," the mayor said.

Law enforcement agents stand on the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis, on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP)

A bullet hole is seen in the windshield as law enforcement officers work the scene of a shooting involving federal law enforcement agents, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Tom Baker)

A bullet hole and blood stains are seen in a crashed vehicle on at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (Ben Hovland/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)