The OKC Thunder have objectively not looked as polished on the hardwood as they did during their historic 2024-25 title run. From a decrease in long-range shooting success (37.4 to 34.8) to an uptick in personal fouls (19.9 to 21.1), Oklahoma City has undoubtedly taken a step back in a number of areas after returning from their incredibly short offseason.
Yet, in an astonishing turn of events, they still are by far producing like the best team in the league during these early stages of the 2025-26 season, and are actually on pace to finish off even better than last year, both from a record and advanced metrics standpoint.
Simply put, despite playing out of sorts, Oklahoma City has somehow found a way to continue dominating the game, much like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did during Monday night's face-off against the New Orleans Pelicans, where he hoisted up a mere nine shots on the night and was still able to inch closer to the great Wilt Chamberlain and his 20-plus point stretch in the process.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander found way to stay on historic pace
To put things into perspective, Gilgeous-Alexander, the league's reigning MVP, Finals MVP, and scoring champion, finds himself averaging 17.2 shots per game for his career and 20.2 this season.
Not since the 2019-20 campaign, when he was playing the role of second-fiddle to Chris Paul, has he hoisted up fewer than 10 shots in a single game.
Monday night, the superstar was surprisingly held within such a confine, though he was still able to drop 23 points in his 29 minutes of action to extend his streak of consecutive games with 20 or more points scored to 87.
The only player to have a longer streak in league history is Chamberlain, who set the record back in 1963 at 126 and then registered in with the second-highest streak at 92 in 1964.
With his out-of-the-ordinary efforts, Gilgeous-Alexander led all players on the night in plus-minus (+32) and, more importantly, a 126-109 win over the Pelicans to extend OKC's already league-best record to 14-1.
Every passing night, it seems this Thunder team only makes its case for being a virtually unstoppable force even stronger.
Play strong defense out on the perimeter, and watch them drive the lane at a top-seven rate. Bait them into fouls, and they'll snatch back a possession of their own with their league-leading steals rate.
Regardless of how a team tries to go about containing Oklahoma City, it appears that they'll go on to find another way to make the night work out in their favor.
As made evident from their recent drubbing of NOLA, the same rule seems to apply to SGA -- take away his shooting opportunities, and watch him get his points from the charity stripe (cashed in on all 10 attempts) while shifting his attention toward other ways to help the Thunder win, such as finding his teammates for scoring opportunities of their own (recorded eight assists).