For the first time since Oct. 30, 2024, a span covering nearly two full seasons and an NBA record 141 straight regular-season games, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was held under 20 points on Thursday in the Thunder's 96-84 win over Denver. He finished with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting before exiting the game with less than two minutes to play. Had SGA wanted to chase another three points to keep the streak going, he could have.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault would've left him in the game. But when the Nuggets pulled their starters with a 17-point deficit and 1:43 remaining, Gilgeous-Alexander followed suit. "He asked out of the game," Daigneault confirmed.
"And he's got a historic streak going. Which is a remarkable streak, obviously. And I just think the class that it shows, and the perspective that it shows, for him to say, 'Hey, I'm out now.
The game's calling for me to be subbed out.' That was his substitution. Of all the things I admire about him, that's toward the top of the list in terms of moments that I appreciate about him. It shows tremendous class as a competitor." Gilgeous-Alexander did well to even have a shot at continuing the streak.
He missed 11 of his first 12 shots and had just two points at halftime. He made his last push with a patented elbow jumper and a trailing 3 in transition on two of his final three possessions to get to his 17, but that was it. Denver called timeout, and SGA was done.
"I asked him, 'Do you wanna shoot some 3s right here?" Chet Holmgren told reporters of a late-game exchange with his teammate. "And he was like, 'nah,' and then he went to Mark and subbed himself out. I told him he's a better man than me.
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