OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's dominant start to the 2025-26 campaign continued in another impressive scoring performance in Sunday's 122-95 blowout win against the Portland Trail Blazers. The defending champion Thunder avenged its only loss of the regular season to improve to 17-1, with Gilgeous-Alexander's 37 points leading the way.
SGA scored 28 of his 37 points in the first half, adding nine points in the third quarter before resting in the fourth amid a 28-point lead (96-68), an advantage that slid by only a point in its final score. Through 18 games, Gilgeous-Alexander is astonishingly only a minus-13 from averaging a point for every minute played throughout the regular season, thus far, per Thunder's sideline reporter Nick Gallo.
“Shai now with 580 points in 593 minutes this season,” Gallo reported.
Gilgeous-Alexander went 13-for-18 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from deep, and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line in Sunday's win. He also finished with seven assists and two steals. Ajay Mitchell's 20 points on a perfect 8-for-8 shooting led the Thunder's bench production, and Isaiah Joe added 10 points.
Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's scoring — 17 first-quarter points — the Thunder raced to a 39-18 lead at the end of the opening frame, holding the Trail Blazers to 18 and then 22 points in the first and third quarters. Oklahoma City also did a stellar job in limiting Deni Avdija, who flirted with a triple-double (26 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists) in the Thunder's only defeat of the season in a 121-119 loss on November 5.
Avdija finished with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, including 1-for-8 from deep, five rebounds, and one assist. The Thunder handed the Trail Blazers their fourth loss in five tries.
Mark Daigneault sets the record straight on Thunder injuries
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault addressed his team's injury situation and whether its success, combined with its depth, is part of the reason the defending champions have yet to see All-Star Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams back in action.
Before facing the Trail Blazers, Daigneault vehemently denied that notion about the Thunder's approach to its players' injuries.
“Those are all health decisions,” Daigneault said. “We're always conservative. We're always cautious because of the health of our players. If we have to wait another day or another week, or another game, to get a more full version of the player that's going to be more sustainable from a health standpoint, we're always going to do that. Those decisions are not made with any association to team performance, depth, or anything like that.
“If we got guys out, we'll go all the way to the end of our roster, and play the guys that are on two-ways. Those minutes has nothing to do with how we make health decisions with the players,” Daigneault concluded.
The Thunder will take the next two days off before hosting the Timberwolves on Wednesday.
