There was already a lot on the line when the Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder took the court Thursday night. It was a possible look at an eventual Finals matchup, but there was even more at stake for Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Gilgeous-Alexander rose to the moment, setting an NBA record by scoring at least 20 points in his 127th consecutive game. With the performance, Gilgeous-Alexander surpassed NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain, whose record of 126 games was tied by Gilgeous-Alexander on Monday.
Advertisement
The reigning NBA MVP made history with his first basket of the third quarter, hitting a 20-foot jump shot after knocking down two free throws on Oklahoma City’s previous possession. He had 17 points at halftime.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 35 points in the Thunder’s 104-102 win over the Celtics, adding 9 assists and 6 rebounds. It’s the 38th time this season he’s scored 30 points or more. He scored 14 points in the fourth quarter, as Oklahoma City rallied from an 83-80 deficit.
The Thunder improved to 52-15 for the season, the best record in the NBA. With the loss, Boston fell to 43-23, 4.5 games behind the Detroit Pistons for the top mark in the East.
Advertisement
For Gilgeous-Alexander, the streak extends all the way back to early in the 2024-25 NBA season. After dropping 18 points in a win over the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 30, 2024, Gilgeous-Alexander went for 30 points two nights later. That turned out to be the beginning of his record-breaking streak.
[Draft your Yahoo Fantasy Baseball team for the 2026 MLB Season]
Since then, the Thunder star has scored at least 20 points in every single game in which he’s played, often easily surpassing that mark.
With the record now out of the way, here are a few fun facts about Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak:
• During his streak, there have been just two times Gilgeous-Alexander finished with exactly 20 points. The most recent came in February, in the game where he sustained an abdominal injury that would cause him to miss the next nine contests. The other game where he finished with exactly 20 points came back in January, when the Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 111-91.
Advertisement
• Gilgeous-Alexander has scored between 30-39 points 62 times during the streak, 40-49 points 13 times and has exceeded 50 points five times.
• Four of those 50-point games came in a span of just 19 games last season. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 54 points against the Utah Jazz on Jan. 22, 2025, and then exceeded 50 points three more times between then and March 3, 2025.
• His highest point total during the streak is 55, which he scored during a double-overtime win over the Indiana Pacers in October.
During his eight-year NBA career, Gilgeous-Alexander has more than lived up to the hype after being selected with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. After finishing sixth in the Rookie of the Year voting, Gilgeous-Alexander continued to develop his game, eventually reaching perennial MVP contender status.
Advertisement
Over the previous three seasons, Gilgeous-Alexander has made the All-Star team and been named a first-team All-Pro in each of those seasons. He has three top-five MVP award finishes over that period as well, winning the award for the first time last year.
He once again finds himself in the running for the MVP award during the 2025-26 NBA season, thanks to another transcendent performance.
With Gilgeous-Alexander once again performing like the best player in the NBA, the Thunder find themselves sitting at the top of the Western Conference. The team seems poised to make yet another deep playoff run after winning a championship last season.