The Oklahoma City Thunder no longer have a shot at 70 wins this season. A 125-111 loss to the Houston Rockets was their 13th of the season, which means 69 wins is the best they can do from here.
Both Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun were tremendous for Houston, scoring 34 and 31 points, respectively.
Oklahoma City was on an 11-game win streak entering Friday, needing another six straight wins to finish out the season and reach the 70-win mark. Despite 33 points from Jalen Williams, 22 from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and 20 from Chet Holmgren, it wasn’t to be.
Gilgeous-Alexander crossing the 20-point threshold did set another record, though. He topped 20 points for the 70th straight game, moving past Michael Jordan for the fourth-longest single-season streak in NBA history. Jordan set his mark in the 1990-91 season.
Wilt Chamberlain remains ahead with two separate 80-game streaks (1961-62, ’63-64) of scoring 20 points or more and Oscar Robertson is third with a 76-game streak (1963-64). This also means Gilgeous-Alexander’s 70-game streak is the first since the 1960s.
What Next For Thunder, SGA?
At 64-13, this is already the most wins the Thunder have had in franchise history.
For those who want to associate them with the Seattle Supersonics, the Sonics record is 64 wins set in 1995-96. A win on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers would send Oklahoma City past that.
Effectively, the Thunder have very little to play for heading into the playoffs. They can now debate rest versus rust over the final five games heading into the first round of the playoffs.
Gilgeous-Alexander, though, may feel the need to not only maintain his scoring streak, but add a few finishing touches to his case for winning MVP this season. Nikola Jokic just put up a 60-point triple-double the other day, so a big performance against a Lakers team where eye balls are at a maximum would be a great feather in the cap.
After two home games against the Lakers, the Thunder close out their season on the road against the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, and New Orleans Pelicans.
As a result, the longest Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak can reach if he plays every game is 75, one short of Robertson.
