Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts near the end of the game against the Minnesota.
After a historic regular season and a Finals run that had plenty of people penciling in Oklahoma City as the 2025 champs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still walked into a gut-check: Game 4 in Indiana, down in the series, season momentum slipping.
The Thunder had already coughed up two games — stunning for a team that looked bulletproof for months. Then OKC flipped the switch. A 31-point fourth quarter turned panic into poise, and SGA was the closer: 15 of his points came in the final frame, the kind of takeover that swings a series and stamps a legacy. The Thunder grabbed Game 4, grabbed control, and eventually grabbed the title.
By the time the confetti settled, Gilgeous-Alexander had basically cleared the shelf: league MVP, scoring title, All-NBA First Team, another All-Star, and the ultimate cherry on top — Finals MVP. Back home, it was the kind of year no other Canadian athlete sniffed, earning him his second Lionel Conacher and Northern Star Awards as Canada’s top athlete.
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And somehow, in the middle of all that hardware, SGA’s nightly dominance can still blur into “yeah, that’s just what he does.”
So let’s zoom in on the numbers that explain why this version of Shai is even scarier — as the Hamilton native goes for the repeat.
Highlights From Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 39-Point Game
Highlights From Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 39-Point Game
SGA by the numbers:
41.9% — 3-point shooting
SGA has always been a walking mismatch who gets to his spots like he owns the deed. The difference now? The jumper has leveled up into a real problem for defenses. The loudest jump is on his step-backs: 35.5% last season to an absurd 52.2% this season. That’s not “improved” — that’s “pick your poison.”
32.4 — Player Efficiency Rating (PER)
He wasn’t supposed to get more efficient after an MVP year… and then he did. Shai’s PER jumped from 30.7 to 32.4, putting him second only to Nikola Jokic — and the gap between Shai and everyone else below him isn’t close. More attention, tougher shots, heavier load… still cleaner results. That’s superstar math.
105.0 — Thunder defensive rating
Not an SGA-only stat, but it’s part of the Thunder identity — and Shai’s buy-in matters. OKC is a nightmare to score on because the guards set the tone. Cason Wallace, Lu Dort and Alex Caruso deserve flowers for the havoc they cause, but it hits different when your best player competes on that end too. It keeps everyone honest. It raises the ceiling.
6.4 — Assists per game
Yes, he’s a scorer. Always has been. Always will be. But the under-discussed flex is how he bends the defense and creates easy life for everyone else. This isn’t “swing it and hope.” This is Shai delivering teammates into buckets:
- Chet Holmgren: 50% on passes from SGA
- Jalen Williams: 55.6%
- Isaiah Joe: 55.8%
- Kenrich Williams: 66.7%
That’s not just passing — that’s playmaking with intent.
104 (and counting) — Straight games with 20+ points
This is cartoon stuff. Longevity streaks like this don’t happen by accident — they happen when your floor is elite and your “off nights” still look like most guys’ career highlights. And if you’re getting mentioned anywhere near Wilt Chamberlain territory for anything? You’re doing something historic.
Enjoy it while it’s happening. Players don’t live at this level forever — and we might not see a stretch like this again for a long, long time.
