By Rowan Fisher-ShottonShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberShai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 113-105 on Wednesday night, extending OKC’s tear to 10 straight wins and an 18-1 start to the NBA season.
The performance came despite Gilgeous-Alexander being listed as questionable with an illness before the game.
A closer look at Wednesday’s performance shows he accomplished something the league hasn’t seen in nearly four decades.
According to ESPN, Gilgeous-Alexander became just the second player in the last 50 seasons to have 16 30-point performances through 19 games of the season, with the other being NBA legend Michael Jordan, who did it 17 times in the 1986-87 season.
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Jordan’s 1986-87 season, his third in the league, saw him average 37.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.9 steals over 82 games, all at just 23 years old.
That season, he was named an All-Star, earning first-team All-NBA recognition, and joined an extensive list of players who scored 3,000 or more points in a single season.
Unfortunately, while the Chicago Bulls advanced to the playoffs, they were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round.
So far this season, Gilgeous-Alexander (27 years old) has averaged 32.6 points, 6.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in 19 games, while shooting 54.8% from the floor.
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Gilgeous-Alexander vaulted himself into the NBA’s upper echelon last season, winning the regular-season MVP, leading the league in scoring, and closing the year by leading Oklahoma City to its first NBA title and earning Finals MVP honors.
He recorded a 70-game streak of 20+ points, notched 49 30+ games (13 of them 40+), and won all of the NBA's most prestigious team and individual awards, a level of volume, efficiency, and success that echoes Jordan.
This season, he’s carried that momentum forward, with the team on pace to repeat as the NBA’s best and Gilgeous‑Alexander emerging as possibly the league’s most dominant scorer since Jordan.
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