Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points to lead the Thunder to a 131-94 win over Golden State.<\/p>\n
SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 After finishing 2025 with a league-high 86 wins \u2013 the fourth most in a single calendar year in NBA history \u2013 the Oklahoma City Thunder began 2026 in similar fashion, defeating the Warriors 131-94<\/a> to open the new year at 1-0.<\/p>\n Most Wins, Calendar Year<\/p>\n 89 wins: 1996 Bulls Here are four takeaways from OKC\u2019s 30th win of the season.<\/p>\n 1. Thunder overpower shorthanded Warriors<\/p>\n Playing without Stephen Curry (ankle), Jimmy Butler III (illness) and Draymond Green (rest), the Warriors faced a tall task against the league-leading Thunder.<\/p>\n OKC built a double-digit lead in the opening quarter, but the Warriors kept battling, cutting the Thunder lead to two (38-36) on a Will Richard 3-pointer<\/a> with 7:19 to play in the second.<\/p>\n But Golden State would get no closer. Oklahoma City responded with a game-changing 19-0 run over the next 4 minutes and 20 seconds \u2013 capped by Luguentz Dort banking in a high-arching 3-pointer<\/a> \u2013 to seize control of the game and never look back.<\/p>\n Lu Dort from the right wing \ud83d\udc4c@okcthunder<\/a> on a 19-0 run on Prime! pic.twitter.com\/1ZAbWauE3w<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA (@NBA) January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThey came out playing aggressive, with a lot of energy \u2013 nothing that we don\u2019t expect from them,\u201d said Chet Holmgren after the win. \u201cWe just had to settle in, get to our stuff and make plays. We did that in the second quarter and continued that through the game.\u201d<\/p>\n The Thunder led by 19 at the half, then stretched the lead to 30+ in the third quarter before sitting their starters for the fourth. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played in 34 of OKC\u2019s 35 games so far this season, but he\u2019s only appeared in 17 fourth quarters.\u00a0<\/p>\n By the end of the night, OKC had held Golden State to its lowest point total (94)<\/a>, its lowest field-goal percentage (35.6%) and largest loss (37) of the season.<\/p>\n 2. SGA extends streak, chasing 50-40-90<\/p>\n In the rafters of Chase Center is Wilt Chamberlain\u2019s retired No. 13. He is the only player in NBA history to have a longer streak of 20+ point games than Gilgeous-Alexander.<\/p>\n Chamberlain\u2019s record mark of 126 consecutive 20+ point games began on Oct. 19, 1961, when the Warriors were still in Philadelphia, and ended on Jan. 19, 1963, after the team had relocated to San Francisco.<\/p>\n With a game-high 30 in just 28 minutes, Gilgeous-Alexander extended his own streak to 106 games on Friday \u2013 hitting the 20-point mark with a pair of free throws<\/a> with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter \u2013 to move within 20 games of Chamberlain.<\/p>\n In addition to his remarkable consistency, Gilgeous-Alexander has been incredibly durable, having missed just one game all season. If he does not miss another game, his target date to break Chamberlain\u2019s record is Thursday, Feb. 12, when the Thunder host the Bucks (7:30 p.m. ET, Prime Video<\/a>).<\/p>\n Along with chasing Chamberlain\u2019s streak, Gilgeous-Alexander has another prestigious club within his sights this season: becoming the 10th member of the NBA\u2019s 50-40-90 club \u2013 shooting 50+ percent on field goals, 40+ percent on 3-pointers and 90+ percent on free throws.<\/p>\n The 50-40-90 club includes<\/a>: Steve Nash (4x), Larry Bird (2), Kevin Durant (2x), Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Stephen Curry, Malcolm Brogdon and Kyrie Irving.\u00a0<\/p>\n How close is Gilgeous-Alexander to joining them? After Friday\u2019s game, he\u2019s shooting 56.1% from the field and 42.5% from 3-point range, both career-highs. The only mark he\u2019s missing is free-throw percentage. After going 7-for-7 on Friday, Gilgeous-Alexander boosted his mark from 88.6% to 88.9% as he aims for a second season shooting 90+ percentage (career-high 90.5% in 2022-23).<\/p>\n If he does so, he could post the highest scoring average (32.1 after Friday) of any season in the 50-40-90 club. The only other player to average more than 30 on that level of efficiency? Steph Curry (30.1 in 2015-16).<\/p>\n 3. OKC tries to join Golden State in 70-win club<\/p>\n On Dec. 10, the Thunder won their franchise-record 16th straight game to become the second team in NBA history to open a season 24-1 through 25 games. The other? The 2015-16 Warriors, who went on to win a record 73 games that season.<\/p>\n However, after that record-tying start, the Thunder dropped four of their next six games \u2013 including three to the San Antonio Spurs, who handed OKC its first consecutive losses since April. Since those back-to-back defeats, the Thunder have won four straight following Friday\u2019s rout.<\/p>\n At 30-5 through 35 games, the Thunder have an 85.7% win percentage, which puts them back on a 70-win pace (70.29 to be exact). They would become only the third team in NBA history to win 70+ games in a single season, joining the 2015-16 Warriors and 1995-96 Bulls (72-10).<\/p>\n The Thunder already joined the Warriors and Bulls in the history books as the only teams to start 30-5 or better in consecutive seasons. The Bulls did it in 1995-96 and 1996-97, while the Warriors did so in three straight seasons: 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17.<\/p>\n 4. Jalen Williams finding his rhythm<\/p>\n After playing through torn ligaments in his wrist during the Thunder\u2019s championship run last season, Jalen Williams had offseason surgery to repair the injury<\/a>, which forced him to miss all of training camp and OKC\u2019s first 19 games of the season.<\/p>\n In Friday\u2019s win, Williams finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two assists in 21 minutes in just his 16th game of the season as he continues to work his way back to last year\u2019s All-NBA Third Team form.<\/p>\n Williams discussed his mindset of reintegrating himself with the Thunder in the middle of the team\u2019s incredibly hot start to the season on NBA Nightcap on Prime Video.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a little difficult when your team starts like 21 and zero,\u201d he said with a laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s a little harder, but it\u2019s also easier at the same time. There\u2019s not anything that I have to force. I think just having two hand surgeries has been more of the difficult part.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing five months without using my hand to my first reps being on a team where everybody\u2019s going for us every night \u2013 and I\u2019m trying to figure that out as well \u2013 that\u2019s more of the hard part: trying to figure out where I fit in with the team. When somebody\u2019s out, everybody else is doing more and more, so trying to complement them as I get back into something that looks more seamless.\u201d<\/p>\n Three plays from Friday\u2019s win showcased Williams at his best \u2013 crashing the glass for a putback dunk, running the break for an alley-oop finish, and going coast-to-coast with a full-speed crossover and a running finish off the glass.<\/p>\n Jdub putback slam!<\/p>\n He came out of NOWHERE.<\/p>\n OKC\/GSW is LIVE on Prime\u2026 watch here: https:\/\/t.co\/T2J80mw4OP<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/j225rQz3MV<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA (@NBA) January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Aaron Wiggins lob \ud83e\udd1d Jalen Williams finish<\/p>\n Oklahoma City & Golden State battling on Prime! pic.twitter.com\/4LlH2S3X5b<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 NBA (@NBA) January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Sped right by \ud83d\udca8<\/p>\n Vote Jalen \ud83c\udf1f https:\/\/t.co\/0HE3nd0kPx<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/ut3IhufG5K<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n When comparing this season to last, Williams\u2019 numbers are nearly identical in rebounds (5.3), assists (5.4) and steals (1.6). But, as expected when coming off a wrist injury, his shooting and scoring (16.9 vs. a career-high 21.6 last season) are not quite back to where they were a year ago.<\/p>\n Williams is shooting 45.3% overall and 30.2% from 3-point range \u2013 both career lows and well below his career marks of 50.8% from the field and 37.8% from 3-point range.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the more time he has back on the court to get game-time reps and reintegrate himself with his teammates, the more those numbers should regress toward the mean \u2013 and that could mean trouble for Thunder opponents.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Brian Martin has covered the NBA and WNBA for more than 15 years. You can e-mail him here<\/a> and follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n88 wins: 2015 Warriors & 2021 Suns
\n87 wins: 2016 Warriors
\n86 wins: 2025 Thunder<\/p>\n