Jalen Williams scored a team-high 21 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 96-84 on Thursday night in a game that saw Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s NBA-record streak of 141 consecutive games scoring 20 points or more come to an end.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 17 points on 6-of-19 shooting. The reigning MVP went without a field goal in the first half, scoring only two points on free throws, and did not make his first basket until early in the third quarter. His 3-pointer at the third-quarter buzzer gave him seven points and put the Thunder up 70-64.

The streak, the longest in NBA history, began on November 1, 2024. Gilgeous-Alexander last scored fewer than 20 points on October 30, 2024, when he had 18 against San Antonio. He had a chance to chase 20 late in the fourth, but after his 3-pointer with 1:44 to go prompted a Denver timeout and both teams emptied their benches, he chose to stay on the sideline.

“I was gonna go out there, and then I saw that they had subbed, so I thought we should sub, too,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You always treat the game with respect.”

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said he was open to leaving his star in, but the decision was Gilgeous-Alexander’s. “I just think of the class that it shows and the perspective that it shows for him to say, ‘Hey, I’m out now. The game’s calling for me to be subbed out,'” Daigneault said.

Chet Holmgren added 12 points, 17 rebounds and four blocks for Oklahoma City (2-0), and Ajay Mitchell scored 12 off the bench. The Thunder trailed 48-44 at halftime and by as many as nine points before taking control with a 26-16 third quarter and a 26-20 fourth, forcing 13 Denver turnovers in the second half.

Aaron Gordon led the Nuggets with 20 points and six rebounds in their season opener. Nikola Jokic was held to 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting, DeMar DeRozan added 13 and Jamal Murray scored just six as Denver (0-1) shot its way out of the game after halftime.