The OKC Thunder have found themselves blowing out their opponents in virtually every single game played so far in the 2025-26 campaign. In fact, with a point differential of +15.3, they are currently on track to surpass their own mark of +12.9 from a season ago, which is the NBA record for an entire year.
Oklahoma City has been so dominant to the point where they've barely even had to use their superstar, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, down the stretch in games, as he ranks outside of the top 240 when it comes to total minutes logged in fourth quarters.
Yet, despite his lack of usage late in contests, the point guard surprisingly still leads the entire league in clutch points scored.
Thunder star shockingly paces all players in clutch points this season
Even though he may only be tied for 47 in the league in games coming down to clutch time (score is within five points during final five minutes of action), Gilgeous-Alexander paces all players in total points scored in these scenarios with 87, 17 more than Philadelphia 76ers star Tyrese Maxey, who ranks fourth when it comes to playing in such games.
To put this into perspective, through roughly 53 total minutes played in clutch time, the Thunder guard is averaging nearly two points per 60 seconds, and is shooting on a highly efficient 54.3 percent from the floor and 40.0 percent from deep while doing it.
Now, in the grand scheme of things, SGA leading the association in a scoring metric shouldn't necessarily be seen as all that shocking.
After all, outside of being the reigning league MVP and Finals MVP, he is also the most recent NBA scoring champion (32.7), who, now equipped with a career-best long-range shooting stroke (43.4), is second in such a category behind only Los Angeles Lakers cornerstone Luka Doncic with 32.8 a night.
However, given how sparingly he's been used late in games, seeing him pave the way in clutch scoring could be taken as a bit of a surprise.
As things currently stand, the Thunder find themselves off to the second-best 22-game start in NBA history with a record of 21-1, the best in the entire league, and are viewed as the odds-on favorites to become the first repeat champion since the 2018 Golden State Warriors.
Though it's certainly taken an entire team effort to accomplish this kind of early-year success, leading the charge, both from the opening tip to, clearly, clutch-time situations, has unquestionably been SGA.