While the NBA world stays completely flummoxed after Bam Adebayo’s 83-point inferno, we’ve witnessed one other historic feat that melts the mind.
On the eve of Halloween in 2024, the San Antonio Spurs did one thing that no workforce has been in a position to accomplish since. They “held” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to underneath 20 factors. I intentionally put held in citation marks as a result of the Spurs had been getting beat so badly in that recreation that SGA barely wanted to play within the fourth quarter. He completed with 18 factors.
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On Thursday, 127 video games later, Gilgeous-Alexander handed Wilt Chamberlain for the most consecutive games with at least 20 points, a report that stood for over half a century.
It’s a streak that has gone on for therefore lengthy it started earlier than Cooper Flagg had ever performed a recreation at Duke.
To put Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak and his MVP candidacy into correct perspective, listed here are seven methods to raised perceive how Gilgeous-Alexander is wrecking the report books.
(Amy Monks/Yahoo Sports Illustration)
1. SGA’s streak is longer than the following two longest present lively streaks mixed: Kawhi Leonard and Joel Embiid. Actually, getting into Thursday, it was longer than the following ELEVEN highest streaks mixed.
Kawhi Leonard has delivered a metronome-like scoring streak for the Clippers this season. From Nov. 28 to now, he has put up 20-plus factors in 43 straight video games. It’s unbelievable. Joel Embiid has strung collectively 24 straight video games of his personal with at the very least 20 factors. Impressive! Tyrese Maxey has mounted 13 such video games in a row. Remarkable.
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Stack all of them collectively and people superstars nonetheless don’t topple SGA’s present mark. Actually, getting into Thursday’s video games, the following 11 highest streaks — Leonard (43), Embiid (24), Maxey (13), Luka Dončić (11), Bam Adebayo (7), Trey Murphy III (5), Pascal Siakam (5), Devin Booker (4), Victor Wembanyama (4), Stephen Curry (4) and Jerami Grant (4) — had a mixed 124 straight video games with 20-plus factors, based on Stathead.com monitoring. It’s not simply that SGA’s streak is healthier than everybody else’s, it’s that none of them may even sniff what SGA is doing proper now.
2. SGA hasn’t performed in 30% of the Thunder’s fourth quarters through the streak.
Perhaps the best risk to SGA’s report isn’t the greatness of the opponent’s protection however reasonably the greatness of his personal workforce. SGA and the Thunder have been so dominant that they haven’t even wanted to play the reigning MVP in dozens of fourth quarters as a result of the sport is already out of hand.
To be actual, the previous Kentucky Wildcat has sat in 39 fourth quarters over the streak, making it much more spectacular that the streak is alive. He’s executed this whereas taking part in in a 36-minute NBA recreation a 3rd of the time. Most gamers want all 4 quarters in a recreation to place collectively at the very least 20 factors. Not SGA.
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3. He has clinched the 20-point streak earlier than the fourth quarter in 90% of his video games.
This is an extension of the earlier observe, with a twist. Not solely does Gilgeous-Alexander sit rather a lot in fourth quarters as a result of his workforce does so properly, more often than not he doesn’t even must play the fourth quarter to maintain his streak alive.
He has scored at the very least 20 factors by the beginning of the fourth quarter in a whopping 114 of the 127 video games, which equates to 89.8%. In just one out of 10 video games is the report in jeopardy going into the ultimate body. Madness.
4. Stephen Curry might add 100 video games to his private longest streak, and he’d nonetheless path Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s present run.
Stephen Curry is likely one of the best scorers in NBA historical past with over 25,000 factors to his identify. He has gained 4 championships and adjusted the sport endlessly. And but: he has by no means come near something like Gilgeous-Alexander’s present streak. In reality, based on Stathead.com, Curry’s longest streak of stringing collectively 20-point video games is 23. He did it throughout two seasons again in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The Golden State Warrior guard has truly by no means rallied 20 straight video games of 20-plus in any single season, which is one thing SGA has executed not simply as soon as, however 5 separate instances. One purpose why: the variance of the 3-point shot. Curry depends way more closely on a shot that goes in lower than half the time, which might yield some wild fluctuations. On the opposite hand, SGA is taking pictures 60% on a whopping 15 2-point makes an attempt per recreation. There’s numerous steadiness in that.
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Even if we wrap round seasons, Curry’s finest is 23 straight video games of 20-plus factors, which remains to be a shorter streak than …
5. At one level final season, SGA scored 20-plus factors by three quarters in 26 straight video games.
To reiterate: Last season, from Nov. 25, 2024, to Jan. 22, 2025, Gilgeous-Alexander ended the third quarter with at the very least 20 factors in 26 straight video games. Just three quarters of basketball was all he wanted to maintain the streak alive.
To put it in perspective, SGA’s 26-game three-quarter streak of 20 factors or extra is longer than the full-game streak of the next gamers’ careers:
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Stephen Curry (23 video games of 20-plus factors)
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Donovan Mitchell (22 video games)
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Karl-Anthony Towns (21 video games)
Just unbelievable consistency and greatness.
6. SGA’s particular person report is sort of twice so long as the NBA’s lively workforce streak of getting at the very least one 20-point scorer.
I do know I already gave it away, but when I had requested you whether or not SGA’s streak is longer than NBA groups’ streaks of getting at the very least one 20-point scorer, what would you say?
In my thoughts, I used to be fairly sure there have been groups which have outpaced Gilgeous-Alexander’s report. Surely a participant on a workforce would have put up 20 in each recreation this season and past, proper? If you shared my feeling on that, it seems we’re each useless flawed. As loopy because it sounds, Gilgeous-Alexander’s private streak is longer than any workforce streak of getting at the very least one 20-point scorer in a recreation.
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And it’s not significantly shut. SGA nearly laps the workforce competitors.
If you dig into it, just one workforce has even had a 20-point scorer in each recreation this season, and also you’ll by no means guess the workforce.
It’s not the Thunder, truly. On Feb. 12, a recreation through which Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t play, the excessive scorer for the Thunder was Isaiah Joe, who registered a mere 17 factors. In each different recreation, the Thunder have cleared the 20-point plateau with at the very least one participant.
But the one workforce to have a 20-point scorer in each recreation this season is just not the Denver Nuggets, holders of the NBA’s No. 1 offense. Although the Nuggets do have essentially the most 20-point video games of any workforce this season, with 143, based on Stathead.com.
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So if it’s not the Thunder or Nuggets, who’s it?
It’s not the high-powered Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics or New York Knicks groups.
It’s truly not a workforce with a profitable report both.
Stumped?
It’s the New Orleans Pelicans.
Yes, the 22-45 Pelicans have the longest workforce streak of getting at the very least one 20-point scorer in every of their 67 video games this season. You can look it up. They’ve had Zion Williamson and 7 different gamers who’ve put up 20 in a recreation this season, unfold out evenly sufficient that they’ve executed it in each recreation.
So naturally I went again to final season. What I discovered was that New Orleans’ streak truly began not lengthy earlier than this season. If you return to final season, the Pelicans had a 20-point scorer in solely three of the workforce’s last regular-season video games, which signifies that the longest lively workforce report is … 70 video games. Not even in the identical ballpark as Gilgeous-Alexander AS AN INDIVIDUAL.
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As loopy because it sounds, SGA’s particular person report of 127 straight video games with a 20-piece is sort of twice so long as the longest lively workforce report.
7. The Wizards’ longest 20-point streak this season is 12 video games.
I’m not kidding. SGA’s streak is 12 instances longer than the Wizards’ longest streak this season as a workforce. Check out this chart displaying their final 126 video games, snaking again to final season:
Between this chart and Bam Adebayo’s 83, the Wizards have seen numerous crimson not too long ago. Yeah, it’s been a tricky week for them.