These first few weeks of the 2026-27 NBA season have been truly harrowing for the OKC Thunder from an injury standpoint.
From Jalen Williams' ankle fracture to Chet Holmgren's patellar tendon tear, it seems that with each passing day, new, deeply negative, and long-term health news pertaining to Oklahoma City's core rotation pops up.
However, on Tuesday night, this trend was slightly bucked with the updated status of Alex Caruso, who was just taken off the injury report and is expected to suit up for Wednesday's bout against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The veteran has been sidelined for the last three games with a sprained ankle sustained midway through OKC's 125-114 win over Phoenix back on October 26.
Initially, the fear was that Caruso would be at risk of missing substantial time, with ESPN's Senior NBA Insider Shams Charania making it a point to describe the injury as "nasty" and that he was expected to miss "some level of time" as a result.
Fortunately, said level was only a week. Now, in a nice change of pace, the Thunder find themselves on the receiving end of positive injury news as they prep to get their defensive stalwart back in the fold
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could make history in Thunder vs. Cavs rematch
Wednesday's game will serve as a rematch of Monday's head-to-head between the Thunder and Cavs, in which Oklahoma City dug out a hard-fought 117-112 win to snap their two-game losing streak.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went on to drop a whopping 43 points on the night, marking it as the 35 time in his career that he's scored 40-plus points in a single game.
It also marked the seventh straight time Shai has posted 30 or more points against Cleveland.
Should he go on to do so in this next matchup, it will officially have him surpass Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady for the most consecutive outings against the Cavaliers in which the same player has dropped 30-plus points.
What bodes well for SGA is the fact that he's become somewhat synonymous with 30-point games over these past few years, as he's averaged 31.3 points per game since the 2022-23 season.
This, along with the fact that he's posted over 30 points in nearly half of his games he's played already this season, makes it rather safe to assume that Mr. "My whole life is consistent" will end up surpassing the great McGrady and claiming this specific record all for himself come the conclusion of Wednesday night's matchup.
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