Sorry, Jordan: Your NBA record is no longer guaranteed

Jordan played 17 playoffs in the 1989 playoffs, achieving a 30-point and 5 assist feat 11 times, breaking Jerry West's record 9 times, becoming the person with the most 30-point and 5 assists in the playoffs in a single season.

Jordan achieved another 30-point and 5 assist feat in the 1990 playoffs, tying his own record. After Jordan, James also achieved a feat of 30 points and 5 assists in the single season 11 playoffs, tying Jordan's record, but failed to break it. The two tied for the first place in this statistics history.

It is very difficult to break Jordan's NBA record, but there is an active player who has great hope of doing it, and he is Alexander of the Thunder. In today's (June 9, 2025), the Thunder vs Pacers' finals G2 match, Alexander made 11 of 21 shots (1 of 4 three-pointers), 11 of 12 free throws, scoring 34 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 1 block, leading the Thunder to defeat the Pacers 123-107. After this battle, the two teams tied 1-1 in the finals.

After scoring 34 points and 8 assists in this game, Alexander has achieved a 30-point and 5 assist feat this year's playoffs 11 times, tying Jordan and James 11 times in a single season, and the three tied for the first place in history. There are still many games to play in the Finals. In terms of Alexander's state in the Finals (2 games averaging 36 points, 5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 3.5 steals, 0.5 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 49%), it should not be difficult for him to score 30 points, 5 assists again. In this way, Alexander will break Jordan's NBA record and enjoy the first place in this statistics history. Jordan and James are going to become the second best in this statistics history.

Alexander is the easiest person in the NBA today to score 30+. In the regular season this season, he played in 76 games, scoring 30+ 49 times, ranking first in the league, leading the second-ranked Antetokounmpo 9 times and 19 times ahead of third-place Jokic. So far in the playoffs, Alexander has played 18 games, scoring 30+ in 13 times, also ranked first in the league, and second place is Brunson's 10 times (Brunson also played 18 playoffs).

The reason why Alexander scored 30+ is so easy because he has two killer moves, namely breakthrough and mid-range shooting. According to statistics from the NBA official website, Alexander averaged 20.6 games in the playoffs this year, ranking first in the league. After Alexander broke through, he can make layups or jump shots with a sudden stop. He has many scoring options after breaking through. His average breakthrough score is 14.1 points, ranking second in the league (the first is Antetokounmpo's 15.2 points), and his shooting percentage after breaking through is 51.8%.

Alexander averaged 5.8 mid- and close shots per game this year, with a shooting percentage of 49.2%. Among them, he averaged 7.5 mid- and close shots per game in two games in the Finals, with a shooting percentage of 48.4%. Alexander can get a lot of points in every game by mid-range shots, plus layups, free throws, and three-pointers, so it is not difficult for him to average 30+ per game.

This year's playoffs, Alexander averaged 30.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocks, with a shooting percentage of 47.4%. The Thunder have a great hope of winning the championship. Alexander is expected to become the player in the NBA's fourth single season after Jabbar, Jordan and O'Neal.