Jan. 22, 2026, 12:00 p.m. CT
Bringing the ball up, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander caught a rare one-on-one look. For a second, anyway. Bobby Portis saw Kyle Kuzma rotate over to send the double. Getting to the baseline, the reigning MVP created enough space to swish in his signature look despite AJ Green joining in to make it a three-on-one.
The Oklahoma City Thunder added to the Milwaukee Bucks‘ misery with a 122-102 win. Despite a short-handed roster, the reigning NBA champions led the entire way and by as many as 25 points.
Gilgeous-Alexander was on another one with 40 points on 16-of-19 shooting, 11 assists and seven rebounds. He shot 2-of-2 from 3 and went 6-of-7 on free throws. He also had one steal.
It didn’t even feel like Gilgeous-Alexander had to expend all of his energy in this one and he still finished with a 40-and-11 double-double. Unreal. That’s when you know someone’s competition is with all-time greats and not the current field. Against a low self-esteem squad, he toyed with his opponent in what likely felt like playing NBA 2K on rookie mode.
To start, Gilgeous-Alexander took a backseat as Ajay Mitchell boosted his confidence as a scorer. If you’re ever going to juggle several goals in a game, this is the environment to do so, as the Bucks played this out of necessity. He morphed into a facilitator role to help his teammates feel themselves on a short-handed night.
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Eventually, though, the buckets were too easy to pass up on. Gilgeous-Alexander toyed with Milwaukee’s defense. Against a roster filled with has-beens and unproven players, this was a prime opportunity to knife through their interior to get plenty of easy finishes around the rim. The jumper was seldom used because it wasn’t needed.
Gilgeous-Alexander cruised his way to 25 points in the second half. You also saw him show off his playmaking skills. Several of his teammates had open looks around the rim from the attention he demands. Same with guys in the perimeter on kick-out passes.
Down to a handful of players, Gilgeous-Alexander was asked to play in garbage time. He gladly took full advantage of that. He might not win the scoring title, but this game suggests that’s more about not being asked to play more minutes than a sudden dip in talent. It didn’t take long for him to reach 40 points with some stat-padding fun. It’s a candy that every NBA superstar eventually reaches for.
Talking to ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt for the first time since the 2025 NBA Finals, Gilgeous-Alexander joked that his superb-efficient 40-point double-double could’ve been better. He claimed he missed too many layups. He only had three misses, by the way. The tongue-in-cheek comment reveals the perfectionist mindset that has helped him become an all-time great.
“I just know what I’m capable of and how hard I work. In every situation, there’s a reason why you fail. The only way to get better is to use it to get better. Remember it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It can be a game you failed in your performance. Or in those instances, the specific shots I failed at. There’s a reason why I failed. No matter what the big picture or big night looks like, you could get better. That’s how I see it.”
At this point, Gilgeous-Alexander has normalized these types of outings. He’s a walking 60-win machine. Doesn’t matter who else is on the floor with him. Add this game to his growing resume for why he should win back-to-back MVP awards. And why that should be a unanimous decision.
“The way we see it, we’re going to have to play the game whether we want to or not. We might as well go out there and get better. We might as well go out there and take advantage of the opportunity,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That’s what every night is about. No matter the circumstance. It’s an opportunity to play through the circumstance. To get better. We did so tonight.”