The Oklahoma City Thunder have been dominant this season and so too has last year's MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Last night, with 26 points, Gilgeous-Alexander moved into second place all-time with the most consecutive 20+ point games in NBA history, now trailing only Wilt Chamberlain.
Although SGA has been doing this for a while, he still continues to receive praise from all-time greats of the game. Most recently "The Truth", better known as Paul Pierce had great things to say about the Thunder star. “You can’t stop him. He’s starting to give me that Jordan presence. He gonna get 30. We had Kobe, LeBron, KD, and they’ll have big nights, but this dude is consistent 30s.” Pierce said.
This certainly means something, coming from a Hall of Famer and 10-time All-Star like Pierce, who averaged a career-high 26.8 points in the 2005-2006 season for the Boston Celtics. Although Pierce didn't face Jordan in his prime, their careers did overlap as the two squared off in six games against one another.
After leading the league in scoring last season with 32.7 points per game, Gilgeous-Alexander is posting similar numbers through 21 games this season with 32.5 points per game. Assuming he finishes the year near that same mark, Gilgeous-Alexander will have put together four consecutive seasons averaging over 30 points per game, dating back to the 2022-2023 season. In all of those seasons, he finished top-five in MVP voting.
As far as the all-time record is concerned, SGA trails Wilt Chamberlain by 33 games, a mark that could be bested this season.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder will be back in action on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors.
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