On a night where he officially broke Wilt Chamberlain's legendary record for most consecutive road games with 20 or more points scored (59), OKC Thunder cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still couldn't help but shine the spotlight on his teammates.
After dropping a whopping 30 points en route to Oklahoma City's 100-87 win over the Dallas Mavericks Sunday night, the reigning MVP said that his running mates are what truly make "the game easy" for him, specifically noting how their offensive potential makes it rather difficult for opposing defenses to commit to singling him out individually.
"Teams really have to pick their poison defensively [against us]. Whether they're going to sell out with my drive [and] my play-making, or they're going to guard my teammates, that's just a battle that we've gone through year in and year out. We're getting better at it each and every year. The guys get better, and if my teammates get better, it makes me better,"Â Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Thunder have more offensive firepower than most teams can handle
For years, the Thunder have been celebrated for having one of the deepest rosters in the association.
Said depth played a significant role in their title run just a season ago and, amid their injury woes here in 2025-26, it's helped them stay more than afloat in the highly competitive Western Conference.
Whether it's reserve wing Isaiah Joe stepping up as OKC's go-to scoring weapon during Gilgeous-Alexander's nine-game absence earlier this month or rising stud Cason Wallace's ongoing evolution as an elite initiator, it's more than evident that head coach Mark Daigneault has a bevy of options to lean on for offensive production.
As SGA pointed out, this can be rather overwhelming for an opposing defense to game-plan for.
Against Dallas, all but one of the 10 Thunder players who saw double-digit minutes scored four or more points during the contest.
Thunder star continues to strengthen case for MVP
Sunday's performance wasn't only noteworthy on account of the fact that Gilgeous-Alexander broke Wilt's long-standing consecutive road games scoring record, but also that it served as the 36 game this year where he's registered 30 or more points, which currently leads the league.
All of these kinds of accomplishments will ultimately play a meaningful role in the guard's pursuit of becoming just the 15 player in league history to win back-to-back MVP awards, an honor he's viewed as the favorite to receive.
Gilgeous-Alexander is riding high into his final 20-game stretch of the regular season with stellar averages of 31.8 points, 6.4 assists, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals on 55.4 percent shooting from the floor and 39.0 percent shooting from deep while spearheading the charge for the 47-win Thunder (most in the NBA at this time).
Assuming he misses no more than six games between now and OKC's season finale on April 12, and that he continues to make the game look as easy as he's been while suiting up, it seems all but certain that the point guard will be adding yet another Michael Jordan Trophy to his collection come awards season.