Shai Gilgeous-Alexander breaks scoring record Wilt Chamberlain held for 63 years

There are plenty of superlatives that could be used to describe Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but none capture his particular brand of basketball brilliance better than consistency. The Thunder star guard brings it every single night. 

Keeping with that trend, Gilgeous-Alexander posted 35 points in a 104-102 win over the Celtics on Thursday, scoring 20+ points in his 127th consecutive NBA game to snap a long-standing record held by the legendary Wilt Chamberlain.

The record breaker came, fittingly, on an isolation middy with 7 minutes left in the third quarter. 

There will be remarks about scoring being easier in today’s game. The pace is faster. The best players control the ball more. Three-point volume has never been higher. All of this is true, and yet, no other active player has come anywhere near SGA’s mark.

Kawhi Leonard has the second-longest active streak at 43 games, while Kevin Durant is the only 21st-century player who has hit even half of SGA’s mark, scoring 20+ points in 72 consecutive games.

To put this scoring streak into proper perspective, let’s take a look at some of the greatest scorers in history and the longest 20-point streaks they were able to muster at any point in their careers. 

Consider the scoring prowess of Luka Doncic and how much he controls the ball every game. He’s never scored 20+ points in more than 36 straight games.

That’s what makes this streak so remarkable: Everyone has a bad game or gets injured eventually.

Except Wilt, who, amazingly, had his streak of 126 straight 20-point games ended because he was ejected inside of four minutes in game 127. He went on to score 20+ points in each of the next 92 games he played.

Without that ejection, Wilt’s number would be 219. SGA achieving that mark (or even matching Chamberlain with 20+ points in 219 of 220 games) would be considered highly unlikely. But now? This is a streak that can certainly continue indefinitely. 

Most consecutive games with 20+ points

What makes this all the more remarkable is the way defenses sell out to stop premier scorers these days. That a player under that kind of duress can go through that many games without having even one off night, not one early ejection or one in-game injury, is hard to fathom. 

Beyond that, think about how often the Thunder have blown teams out over the duration of this streak to the degree that SGA hasn’t even gotten to play in fourth quarters. And still he keeps getting to 20. Usually a lot more. 

It’s a testament to all the different ways SGA can put points on the board. He’s the best driver and arguably the best midrange scorer in the game. He’s become a knock-down 3-point shooter. On the off night that his shot isn’t landing, he can basically get to the free-throw line whenever he wants, and he get a bunch of easy buckets off OKC’s turnover-machine defense. 

One way or another, Gilgeous-Alexander is going to get to his spots, and from there he’s going to get his 20 points. That’s what he’s been doing every game over the last 16 months. The last time he failed to reach 20 was Oct. 30, 2024, when the San Antonio Spurs “held” him to 18. It could be a long time before we see a number that low again.