Shai, shooting for the MVP - without playing final quarters

The Oklahoma City Thunder are steamrolling their way into the history books. Earlier this morning, they dismantled the Dallas Mavericks 132–111, notching their 22nd win in their last 23 games. Two more victories would put them at 24–1, right in line with the legendary 2015–16 Golden State Warriors who finished 73–9. At this pace, it feels inevitable the Thunder will match—or even surpass—that mark.

Relentless pace on both ends

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: dominant without overexertion

What makes this run even more remarkable is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t had to push himself to the limit.

He’s the second-leading scorer in the league, trailing only Luka Doncic, with 32.8 points per game. He also ranks 15th in assists, averaging 6.4 per contest.

And yet, Shai barely plays in the fourth quarter. Out of 23 games so far, he’s appeared in just 11 final periods, averaging only 7 minutes when he does. His longest fourth-quarter stint was 10:07 against Indiana. Across the season, he’s averaging a mere 3.5 minutes in the fourth.

Efficiency at historic levels

Against Dallas, Shai didn’t even step on the floor in the final quarter—OKC had already blown the game wide open with a 104–74 lead. He finished with 33 points in just 29 minutes.

That marked the ninth time this season he’s scored 30 or more points in 30 minutes or less. The only other player to reach that milestone was Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2019–20. Giannis has done it 63 times in his career. Shai? He’s already at 23.

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Oklahoma City Thunder

Stats

8 Jalen Williams
6 Jaylin Williams
7 Chet Holmgren
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
22 Cason Wallace
23 Brooks Barnhizer
15 Branden Carlson
13 Ousmane Dieng
25 Ajay Mitchell
21 Aaron Wiggins
34 Kenrich Williams
3 Chris Youngblood

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
8 Jalen Williams	24	15	8	1	7	5	1	1	0	4/4	4/8	1/3	0	4	0
6 Jaylin Williams	18	4	3	0	3	3	0	1	1	1/2	0/0	1/4	0	2	0
7 Chet Holmgren	23	15	8	2	6	1	0	0	1	2/2	5/7	1/4	0	1	0
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	28	33	5	0	5	6	2	0	1	11/12	8/10	2/2	0	4	0
22 Cason Wallace	22	11	4	1	3	1	0	1	0	0/0	1/2	3/5	0	0	0
23 Brooks Barnhizer	7	5	1	0	1	2	0	1	0	1/1	2/3	0/1	0	0	0
15 Branden Carlson	21	9	6	1	5	3	0	0	0	0/0	3/4	1/2	0	2	0
13 Ousmane Dieng	21	7	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	2/2	1/3	1/2	0	1	0
25 Ajay Mitchell	22	9	0	0	0	2	3	1	0	2/2	2/5	1/2	0	3	0
21 Aaron Wiggins	19	11	2	1	1	3	0	0	0	0/0	4/6	1/2	0	0	0
34 Kenrich Williams	19	10	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	2/2	4/5	0/2	0	0	0
3 Chris Youngblood	8	3	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	1/1	1/1	0/1	0	4	0

Dallas Mavericks

Stats

32 Cooper Flagg
13 Naji Marshall
3 Anthony Davis
0 Max Christie
9 Ryan Nembhard
30 Moussa Cisse
1 Jaden Hardy
16 Caleb Martin
7 Dwight Powell
5 D'Angelo Russell
31 Klay Thompson
10 Brandon Williams
14 Miles Kelly

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF	Val
32 Cooper Flagg	29	16	2	1	1	2	4	0	0	6/6	5/8	0/3	0	1	0
13 Naji Marshall	26	18	1	0	1	2	0	1	0	2/4	8/9	0/2	0	3	0
3 Anthony Davis	24	2	8	4	4	6	2	0	1	0/2	1/9	0/0	0	1	0
0 Max Christie	22	12	3	0	3	0	0	1	0	0/0	3/3	2/3	0	1	0
9 Ryan Nembhard	24	10	3	1	2	4	1	0	0	0/0	2/5	2/3	0	2	0
30 Moussa Cisse	7	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	1	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	0	0
1 Jaden Hardy	20	23	2	0	2	2	1	0	0	2/2	3/4	5/9	0	1	0
16 Caleb Martin	11	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	1/2	0	1	0
7 Dwight Powell	15	3	2	1	1	2	1	0	0	1/4	1/1	0/0	0	2	0
5 D'Angelo Russell	15	12	3	0	3	3	1	0	0	0/0	0/1	4/6	0	2	0
31 Klay Thompson	17	3	5	1	4	0	0	0	1	0/0	0/2	1/5	0	3	0
10 Brandon Williams	23	9	3	1	2	7	1	0	0	2/2	2/5	1/4	0	0	0
14 Miles Kelly	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0	0