Shai Gilgeous-Alexander breaks Kevin Durant's Thunder record in Celtics clash
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On Wednesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder faced off against the Boston Celtics in a battle between two teams that many believe are the favorites to win the Larry O’Brien trophy this year. And the Thunder, despite missing a few key pieces in Jalen Williams, who may have sustained a serious hip injury, and Alex Caruso, who was out with an illness, took a 118-112 win over the reigning champion — with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing a starring role yet again in an OKC victory.
Gilgeous-Alexander put up a game-high 34 points on 11-20 shooting from the field to go along with five rebounds and seven assists, and in so doing, he continued to prop up his MVP case. He’s also climbing the ranks of the best Thunder players of all time, breaking a Kevin Durant record in the process.
According to the official ClutchPoints account on X (formerly known as Twitter), Gilgeous-Alexander became the fastest player in Thunder history to score 10,000 or more points for the franchise (Seattle Supersonics history included), needing only 368 games. Durant previously held the record at 381 games.
Gilgeous-Alexander entered their Wednesday night battle against the Celtics in need of just 16 points to cross the 10,000-point mark, and for someone averaging over 32 points a night throughout the course of the 2024-25 season, that is light work.
This just goes to show how quickly time flies; it feels like the Paul George trade that netted the Thunder Gilgeous-Alexander happened only yesterday, but now, the 26-year-old guard is one of the best players in the association and is likely to win his first MVP award.
But Gilgeous-Alexander, as important as personal glory is for him, knows that his and the Thunder’s ultimate goal is to win a championship, and with a record of 54-12 on the year, they are as good of a bet as any to win it all.
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the favorite to win MVP?
In any other season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would be a no-brainer pick to win the MVP. He’s averaging 32.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game on 53/37/90 shooting splits — monster numbers on the Western Conference’s best team. However, competing against Nikola Jokic, who is in the middle of a triple-double season, won’t make life easy whatsoever for the Thunder star.
In recent seasons, MVP voters haven’t exactly prioritized team success as a determining factor in who wins the award. But at the very least, Gilgeous-Alexander has voter fatigue on his side, as voters may want to give the award to someone new instead of giving Jokic yet another MVP.
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