Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will look to start another streak Sunday when the Thunder host the Los Angeles Clippers.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s NBA-record streak of 141 consecutive games with 20 or more points was snapped in Thursday’s 96-84 win over Denver.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 17 points versus the Nuggets, scoring 10 in the fourth quarter to make a run at extending the streak before pulling himself out of the game with 1:24 remaining and a Thunder win out of reach.
“I feel like you always treat the game with respect,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “God willing, I have many more games to start on a streak. So, it’s not the end of the world.”
Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t figure to have another streak quite that long.
All-time great Wilt Chamberlain previously held the record with 126 consecutive games with 20 or more points. No other player has had a streak of 100 such games.
“If you don’t play basketball, you probably don’t even realize how crazy (the streak) is,” Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams said. “Like, people in video games don’t do that. … It’s very impressive. I can confidently say that one will be untouched for a while.”
After a season in which he was limited to just 33 regular-season games due to injury and missed much of the postseason, Williams has had a strong start to this season. He had 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting in Thursday’s win.
It’s early, but the Thunder’s defense figures to be one of the NBA’s best yet again this season. Through two games, Oklahoma City is holding opponents to just 95.9 points per 100 possessions. The Thunder led the NBA in defensive rating a year ago at 106.5 and points off turnovers with 22.0.
The Clippers will need to show plenty of improvement in ball security against the Thunder after committing 26 turnovers in Friday’s 125-117 loss to the Lakers.
In that loss, Darius Garland had a career-high nine turnovers.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said Garland needed to be better.
“He’s the head of the snake, and he has to take care of the basketball, score the basketball, and also get guys involved,” Lue said. “Teams are going to throw a lot of different looks at him, so he’s got to be ready for it.”
Sunday’s game is the second in a stretch where the Clippers will play four of five games away from home.
Los Angeles is averaging 22 turnovers through two games.
“We’re going to play hard,” Lue said. “We’re going to scrap to the end. … We’ve got to do a better job of taking care of the ball.”
The Thunder have swept the season series between the teams in each of the last two seasons. The Clippers have lost nine consecutive games in Oklahoma City. Their last road win over the Thunder came in March 2020.
An Oklahoma City win could help the Thunder beyond just this year’s standings.
The Thunder are likely to own the Clippers’ first-round pick in the 2027 NBA Draft.
Los Angeles remains without Brandon Ingram, Bradley Beal, Max Strus and Yanic Konan Niederhauser.
