Reporting note: this article draws on gmanetwork.com; LodiScore provides the summary and editorial framing.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander streak ends in Thunder win
The Shai Gilgeous-Alexander streak stopped at 141 games, and it stopped quietly. Oklahoma City beat Denver 96-84 at home Thursday, but the reigning two-time NBA Most Valuable Player finished with 17 points, the first time he had been held below 20 in a regular-season game since Oct. 30, 2024.
The ending was administrative rather than defensive. With under two minutes remaining and the Thunder up 16, Nuggets coach David Adelman emptied his bench following a timeout. Gilgeous-Alexander did not wait for direction from Mark Daigneault; he took his place on the bench himself and the record closed.
He had been pushing to keep it alive. Ten of his 17 points came in the fourth quarter, and the streak survived until the game no longer required him.
Oklahoma City's lead arrives late in the third
For most of three quarters the Thunder trailed a game they would eventually win by double figures. They had not led since going up 3-0 in the opening seconds until Ajay Mitchell's transition layup with just over two minutes left in the third quarter.
Then came the swing. Gilgeous-Alexander gathered a Jaylin Williams rebound, raced the length of the floor and drained a transition three in the closing seconds of the quarter to put Oklahoma City up six. He had been 0-for-7 from beyond the arc to that point. Sequences like that one — rebound, push, shot released before the defense sets — are the modern descendant of the 1960s fast break, and it arrived exactly when the half-court game had stalled.
There was one more turn before the quarter ended. Gilgeous-Alexander was initially called for a foul on Nikola Jokic's three-point heave as time expired, which would have sent Jokic to the line for three free throws. The Thunder challenged, and the call was overturned.
Thirteen Denver turnovers reshape the floor
The Thunder forced 13 second-half turnovers and turned them into 19 points. Fourteen of Oklahoma City's 26 fourth-quarter points came off those turnovers, which is where a game that had been a congested half-court slog became a running one.
Jalen Williams led Oklahoma City with 21 points. Chet Holmgren added 12 points and 17 rebounds, holding the interior while the perimeter shooting stayed cold: the Thunder finished 11 of 43 from three-point range.
Gilgeous-Alexander's own shooting line told the same story early. He missed all seven shots he attempted in the first half and did not get on the board until a pair of free throws with less than two minutes remaining in the half. He broke the stretch without a field goal quickly in the third quarter, but only found an offensive rhythm with that late three.
Nikola Jokic's cold night and Cameron Johnson's ankle
Denver's problem was not only the turnovers. Jokic scored 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting, and Aaron Gordon's 20 points were the Nuggets' most reliable output of the night.
Denver also lost Cameron Johnson with 3:30 remaining in the second quarter after he suffered a right ankle sprain. He did not return, thinning a rotation that was already chasing the game from behind.
The result leaves Oklahoma City with a win built on defense and second-half turnovers rather than on the scorer whose streak had defined its season to this point. The original report is from gmanetwork.com.
