Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s NBA-record run of 20-point games is over. The Thunder star finished with 17 points in Oklahoma City’s 96-84 win over the Denver Nuggets, ending his streak at 141 straight regular-season games, as first reported by ClutchPoints.
The wild part is how it ended. With 1:43 left, SGA hit a three to put OKC up 93-73. Denver emptied its bench, and instead of hunting three more points, Gilgeous-Alexander asked head coach Mark Daigneault to take him out.
“I feel like you always treat the game with respect,” SGA said afterward. Daigneault said his star “put me in a great position there.”
The IAHHM Take
Let’s put 141 in context. Wilt Chamberlain’s old mark of 126 straight 20-point games stood for more than 60 years until SGA tied it on March 9, 2026, dropping 35 in a 129-126 win over, of all teams, the Nuggets. Denver was there when he caught Wilt, and Denver was there when it finally stopped.
It wasn’t his night offensively: 6-of-19 from the field and 3-of-11 from deep, with 13 of his 17 coming in the second half, plus three assists and a block. Plenty of players in that spot would have stayed on the floor against end-of-bench guys and gotten the number. He didn’t.
In a league where stat-padding in garbage time is basically a sport of its own, the reigning face of the Thunder walking away from a record on purpose says a lot about the culture in OKC. The team is 2-0 and the defense held Denver to 84.
Real question: respect the decision, or should he have stayed out there and kept the streak alive? Let us know.
Related: Wemby Shot 1-for-13 in the Opener and Kept It Real: The Thunder Were ‘Having Fun’.
Source: ClutchPoints | KSL/AP
