League MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues torrid start by leading Thunder to another 2 OT win

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn't satisfied with just one MVP season.

So he delivered an MVP performance in the NBA Finals and is off to a superb start this season.

The three-time All-Star scored a career-high 55 points, 15 coming after regulation Thursday to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a second straight double-overtime win, this time over defending Eastern Conference champion Indiana 141-135.

Gilgeous-Alexander stayed aggressive, challenged defenders and made free throws for his fifth 50-point game, tying Russell Westbrook for most with the Thunder.

“ It was no different than any other night. I attack,” he said. “I'm always going downhill. I had to put my aggressive foot forward.”

Gilgeous-Alexander took advantage of a game that featured 70 total fouls on the players. No. 71 was a technical foul on Pacers coach Rick Carlisle and, naturally, Gilgeous-Alexander made that one, too. He wound up 23 of 26 from the free throw line, 15 of 31 from the field with eight rebounds and five assists.

Plus, he was largely responsible for the Pacers, who are already short-handed, have three players foul out. They are without injured guards Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell, then lost guard Andrew Nembhard with a sore left shoulder in the first half. Aaron Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin and Ben Sheppard later fouled out.

“It's a lot, being guarded by one of the best players in the game, (Lu) Dort and then guarding the best player in the NBA,” said Mathurin, who was 15 of 17 from the free throw line and scored 36 points. “It’s definitely a challenge, But I mean, I'm up for it.”

How good has Gilgeous-Alexander been through the first two games?

He had 35 points, five rebounds and five assists in 47 minutes to lead the Thunder past Houston 125-124 on Tuesday and then torched the same team he beat in June’s NBA Finals.

Gilgeous-Alexander now scored 90 points, the fifth-highest two-game total in NBA history. Only Wilt Chamberlain with 106 and 105, Anthony Davis with 95 and Michael Jordan with 91 had more.

But the 92 1/2 minutes he’s already logged are taking a toll, and that may explain why he missed shots at the end of regulation and at the end of the first overtime that could have won the game.

“I’m tired,” Gilgeous-Alexander said, noting that's also why he hugged some of his teammates following the game. “But it’s a good way to break the ice, to get my cardiovascular going. It’s not ideal, for sure.”

And it's not just the Pacers or Rockets who will have to contend with Gilgeous-Alexander's challenging playing style, either. He has a deft plan to keep him in the MVP conversation seemingly every night.

“Honestly, I just play and then if they stop something, I have a few counters,” he said. “If they stop those (counters), I have a few more counters and by then, usually, the shots start falling. That's how all that happens.”

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Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) is fouled by Indiana Pacers' Isaiah Jackson during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) is defended by Indiana Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin (00) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Indiana Pacers' Ben Sheppard battle for a loose ball during the second overtime of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Indiana Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin (00) puts up a shot against Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) and Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during overtime of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An ailing astronaut returned to Earth with three others on Thursday, ending their space station mission more than a month early in NASA’s first medical evacuation.

SpaceX guided the capsule to a middle-of-the-night splashdown in the Pacific near San Diego, less than 11 hours after the astronauts exited the International Space Station.

“It’s so good to be home,” said NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, the capsule commander.

It was an unexpected finish to a mission that began in August and left the orbiting lab with only one American and two Russians on board. NASA and SpaceX said they would try to move up the launch of a fresh crew of four; liftoff is currently targeted for mid-February.

Cardman and NASA’s Mike Fincke were joined on the return by Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov. Officials have refused to identify the astronaut who had the health problem or explain what happened, citing medical privacy.

While the astronaut was stable in orbit, NASA wanted them back on Earth as soon as possible to receive proper care and diagnostic testing. The entry and splashdown required no special changes or accommodations, officials said, and the recovery ship had its usual allotment of medical experts on board. It was not immediately known when the astronauts would fly from California to their home base in Houston. Platonov’s return to Moscow was also unclear.

NASA stressed repeatedly over the past week that this was not an emergency. The astronaut fell sick or was injured on Jan. 7, prompting NASA to call off the next day’s spacewalk by Cardman and Fincke, and ultimately resulting in the early return. It was the first time NASA cut short a spaceflight for medical reasons. The Russians had done so decades ago.

The space station has gotten by with three astronauts before, sometimes even with just two. NASA said it will be unable to perform a spacewalk, even for an emergency, until the arrival of the next crew, which has two Americans, one French and one Russian astronaut.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov is helped out of the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

NASA astronaut Zena Cardman is helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule being taken into the recovery vessel after crew members re entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Mike Fincke getting helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows Russian astronaut Oleg Platonov being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, left, NASA astronauts Mike Fincke, Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui are seen inside the SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spacecraft onboard the SpaceX recovery ship SHANNON shortly after having landed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Long Beach, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows NASA astronaut Zena Cardman being helped out of the SpaceX Crew-11 capsule after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA TV shows the SpaceX Dragon departing from the International Space Station shortly after undocking with four NASA Crew-11 members inside on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This photo provided by NASA shows clockwise from bottom left are, NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, NASA astronaut Zena Cardman, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Kimiya Yui gathering for a crew portrait wearing their Dragon pressure suits during a suit verification check inside the International Space Station’s Kibo laboratory module, Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows recovery vessels approaching the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 capsule to evacuate one of the crew members after they re-entered the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)

This screengrab from video provided by NASA shows the NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 members re entering the earth in a middle-of-the-night splashdown near San Diego, Calif., Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (NASA via AP)