Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's streak of 141 straight games with at least 20 points ended Thursday night. He finished with 17 in the Oklahoma City Thunder's 96-84 win over the Nuggets, per ESPN and Yahoo Sports. ESPN and Deadspin both call it a record streak. Sportsnet described it only as "one of the most impressive streaks in NBA history." The feed summaries we have don't say whether the record is a league mark or something narrower, so we aren't putting a label on it.
The box score shows an off shooting night, not a short one. Gilgeous-Alexander played 35 minutes and went 6-for-19 from the field, including 3-for-11 on threes, and 2-for-2 at the line. He added three assists and two rebounds, with no turnovers and no fouls. His plus-minus was +21, the best number in the context we have for the game. The Thunder as a team shot 36-for-95 (38%) and 11-for-43 from three, so the poor shooting wasn't only his. Oklahoma City still won comfortably, helped by 12 turnovers to Denver's 22 and a 9-2 edge in blocks. The Thunder's largest lead was 17.
The margin came from the second half. Denver led 48-44 at the break, then Oklahoma City outscored it 52-36 over the third and fourth quarters. That meant Gilgeous-Alexander didn't need to chase points late. Nothing in the reporting or the box score suggests an injury.
The game was a sharp drop from his previous one. Two nights earlier he scored 32 on 13-for-27 in a 116-104 win at San Antonio, which is the only game in his 2027 regular-season line so far. His 2026 numbers show how far Thursday was from his norm: 31.1 points a game over 68 appearances, on 55.3% shooting. His game log also shows 17 points at Houston on Oct. 15, in a game that doesn't count toward Oklahoma City's 2-0 record, so we haven't treated it as part of the regular-season run.
| GP | GS | MIN | FG | FG% | 3PT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 36.0 | 13.0-27.0 | 48.1 | 3.0-7.0 |
Oklahoma City is 2-0 and first in the Northwest Division, on a two-game winning streak. Denver is 0-1 and fifth, having lost its only regular-season game. Its last three results were a 122-110 loss at the Clippers on Oct. 14, a 121-106 win at the Lakers on Oct. 16, and Thursday's loss. The Nuggets host New Orleans on Saturday.
The Thunder's next game is Sunday at home against the Clippers, and Phoenix visits on Oct. 26. Gilgeous-Alexander now starts a new run of 20-point games from zero, in a season where he has already shown both his 32-point and his 17-point nights.
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