Shai Gilgeous-Alexander does his best Michael Jordan impression with his historic feat

ByNBAUSA


Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander encourages the best efforts of NBA opponentswhich only makes him better, he said, after beating the Minnesota Timberwolves and accomplishing the feat in the same breath as the Hall of Fame guard Michael Jordan. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 40 points in a 113-105 win on Wednesday. He also extended his streak of 20+ points to 90 consecutive games.

At the same time, Gilgeous-Alexander joined Jordan and became the first to have 16 30+ performance points through the first 19 games of the regular season since MJ’s 1986-87 season.

“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander became just the second player in the last 50 seasons to have 16 30-point performances in a 19-game season. The second is Michael Jordan who did it 17 times in 1986-87,” ESPN Insights reported.

Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.6 points on 54.8/41.4/89.7 shooting, 6.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game this season. What’s most impressive about SGA tying Jordan’s 19-game streak is the number of times he scored 30+ points in three quarters of a Thunder win.

Gilgeous-Alexander usually watches Oklahoma City end one of its 18 regular-season wins during the final frame of most wins. While Wednesday’s win against the Timberwolves wasn’t one of those nights, SGA led the Thunder on a 12-4 run to break a 101-101 tie before winning by eight points to improve its NBA-best record to 18-1.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Thunder facing teams’ best efforts

Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles down the court against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the first quarter at the Pike Center
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

During his postgame media availability, Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander echoed, in many ways, the coach Mark Daigneault looks at the teams’ best efforts after a rematch of last year’s Western Conference finals. For Gilgeous-Alexander, it can only make him and the Thunder a better team as the defending champions.

“That’s how you grow – how we grow as a team, playing against the best and doing our best,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It just helps us see where we’re at every night.”

The Thunder will look to extend their 10-game winning streak amid their 18-1 start against the Suns on Friday.





2025-11-28 15:53:00

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