Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, praised for piecing together the league’s cleanest pregame fits, has one stain he can’t remove.
It’s the OKC Thunder’s lone loss of the season. A two-point defeat on Nov. 5 that came from the Portland Trail Blazers, who arrived at Paycom Center on Sunday night for a second meeting with the reigning NBA champions.
But even though there’s no scrubbing that loss from its near-perfect record, OKC was able to cover it up during the rematch by piling on points in a 122-95 home win. And Gilgeous-Alexander set the tone.
The superstar guard scored 13 straight points early in the first quarter, including an and-one layup that sent him tumbling to the floor at the 6:58 mark.
“And one!” Gilgeous-Alexander yelled as he immediately sat up straight, flexing his muscles and pounding his chest. “And one!”
Order new book on Thunder’s run to NBA title
Gilgeous-Alexander then capped off the scoring spree a minute later.
He zoomed past Caleb Love on his way to an easy layup and never pumped the brakes, even when Portland called a timeout. He simply sprinted toward OKC’s bench, jumped into the air and crash-landed in his seat.
Rookie center Thomas Sorber looked visibly shocked at the sight of his fired-up teammate, who usually keeps a cool head. But head coach Mark Daigneault didn’t even flinch. That sort of early statement is to be expected from the reigning MVP.
“Nothing that he does at this point surprises me,” Daigneault said of Gilgeous-Alexander. “But it’s impressive nonetheless.”
Gilgeous-Alexander stuffed the stat sheet with 37 points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals in 30 minutes to help OKC (17-1) avenge its only loss. He went 13 for 18 from the field and 2 for 3 from deep.
And he watched the entire fourth quarter of the blowout victory from the bench for the 11th time this season, sporting a towel across his shoulders. It’s the only fit he ever repeats.
Here are three takeaways from the win:
Jaylin Williams delivered quarterback-quality assists
Football is king in the state of Arkansas, where Jaylin Williams was born and raised.
And while it’s been a while since he dabbled in throwing the pigskin around, those quarterbacking skills could be seen on a day of the week that’s practically owned by the NFL.
Gilgeous-Alexander got past his defender on a slant route to the rim late in the first quarter and immediately locked eyes Williams, who had the ball at the top of the arc. It wasn’t hard for the Thunder big man to look over the defense and spot his open teammate. He is 6-foot-9, after all.
Williams then sailed a precision pass to Gilgeous-Alexander, who made an over-the-shoulder catch and finished a layup.
That was one of the many quarterback-quality finds by Williams on Sunday. He recorded four assists to go along with his five points in only 14 minutes of action.
Williams has tallied at least four assists in three of his last six outings. His passing is one of the many ways he has carved out a role with OKC throughout the years.
“He’s just a total team guy,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “He does all of the things that are investments in the team. He’s a great ball mover. He’s a great screen setter. He’s a great communicator. He’s a great block-out rebounder who takes charges. He does all of the dirty work that teams need, and he embraces that.
“I think that’s one of the reasons he has such respect in the locker room. It’s because of his commitment to those things. Guys don’t take that for granted when it comes to him.”
Ajay Mitchell is already a high-level finisher
Less than two minutes earlier, Ajay Mitchell was laying flat on the floor.
He’d been dragged down by the collar of his jersey while attempting a layup over Rayan Rupert, who was assessed a flagrant foul for the reckless play. And after bouncing back up, he could be seen gingerly walking around while his teammates rushed over to his defense.
And yet Mitchell showed no signs of hesitation when attacking the paint a few possessions later. He fearlessly knifed his way into the lane and split a pair of defenders in the air before sinking a tough reverse layup.
There seemingly isn’t anything that can deter Mitchell, who’s finishing from close range at a high level this season. He’s shooting 66.2% from inside the restricted area on 3.9 attempts per game.
That’s a better percentage on more attempts than Denver’s Jamal Murray (64.2% on 3.5 attempts), Memphis’ Ja Morant (55.3% on 3.2 attempts) and Atlanta’s Trae Young (53.3% on three attempts).
Mitchell recorded 20 points, four assists and two steals in 24 minutes. He made all eight of his shot attempts, including two from deep.
There was no path to a Trail Blazers comeback this time
OKC didn’t necessarily take its foot off the gas in its first meeting with Portland. It just ran out of gas entirely.
The Thunder led by as many as 22 points in that contest, only to suffer a narrow defeat. It was a rare late-game collapse by a short-handed team that was on the second night of a back-to-back.
But after claiming a 39-18 lead at the end of the third quarter on Sunday, OKC continued to run laps around Portland. The Thunder doubled the Trail Blazers at times and even led by as many as 36 points en route to the blowout victory.
“I feel like every single game, we look at it as 48 minutes,” Mitchell said of OKC’s relentless mindset. “No matter if we’re up 20 or 30, we try to play the same way for 48 minutes. We’ve been doing that forever, and I think that’s really important for us because we want to keep building.
“Every single game is an opportunity for us to get better. No matter what the score is, that’s what we’re focused on.”
Tip-ins
- Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 20 points in 90 consecutive regular-season games, which is the third-longest streak in NBA history. He trails Wilt Chamberlain, who had two streaks of 126 games and 92 games.
- Aaron Wiggins missed his ninth straight game due to a left adductor strain. OKC also continued to be without Thomas Sorber, Nikola Topić, Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams, who have yet to play this season.
- Portland was without key contributors Jrue Holiday (right calf strain), Shaedon Sharpe (right calf strain) and Scoot Henderson (left hamstring tear).
- Next up for OKC is its final two NBA Cup group play games. It’ll host Minnesota at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday and Phoenix at 8:30 p.m. Friday. The Thunder (2-0) holds first place in Group A of the Western Conference.
Justin Martinez covers the Thunder and NBA for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Justin? He can be reached at jmartinez@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @Justintohoops. Sign up for the Thunder Sports Minute newsletter to access more NBA coverage. Support Justin’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
Thunder vs. Timberwolves
TIPOFF: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City (ESPN)
