The Oklahoma City Thunder cannot be stopped. They moved to 8-0 to begin the season as they demolished the Los Angeles Clippers, 126-107, despite being on the road. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been in MVP form since the start of the new campaign, and this continued on Tuesday night, as he put up 30 points, four rebounds, and 12 assists to power OKC to an eighth consecutive win — the best start to a season in OKC franchise history.
Gilgeous-Alexander is busy with a streak of his own. In crossing the 20-point mark yet again, the Thunder star extended his streak of 20-point games to 80 — the third-longest in the history of the NBA, as per the official ClutchPoints account on X (formerly Twitter). He passed the legendary Oscar Robertson on that all-time leaderboard, which is no mean feat.
Alas, the Thunder star has a long way to go before he catches the player in front of him on that all-time rankings. Wilt Chamberlain owns the two longest 20-point streaks in league history, with separate streaks of 126 and 92 games to his name. Chamberlain is almost unparalleled when it comes to stat-sheet stuffing, but Gilgeous-Alexander is inching closer and closer with the way he's blossomed into perhaps the most consistent star in today's NBA.
The last time Gilgeous-Alexander scored fewer than 20 points in a regular-season game was all the way back on the 30th of October last year, when he tallied just 18 points in a 105-93 Thunder win over the San Antonio Spurs. He did have three games during last season's playoff run where he scored fewer than 20 (Game 1 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies, Game 3 against the Denver Nuggets, and Game 3 against the Minnesota Timberwolves).
With the Thunder off to a torrid start and Gilgeous-Alexander scorching the nets once more, another MVP season could be in the cards for the reigning regular-season and Finals MVP.
Thunder are cruising despite Jalen Williams' absence
No one can dare underestimate Jalen Williams' importance to this Thunder team. In addition to being an active presence on the defensive end, he excels at knifing into the lane and exploiting the space that Gilgeous-Alexander creates. Williams is one of the best second options in the association, and he hasn't suited up yet for OKC — making their 8-0 start that much more terrifying.
It's not quite clear when Williams will be back from a wrist injury. But he can certainly take his sweet time in his recovery, as the Thunder are rolling even amid his absence.
