Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder was stunned last night after getting blown out by the Charlotte Hornets and losing their second straight at home. The 2025 MVP gave a brutally honest assessment of his team’s 124-97 blowout loss following a rocky end to 2025 and start to life in 2026.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Brutal Assessment
Reflecting on a stunning defeat to the Hornets, Gilgeous-Alexander said, “I don’t think we brought the energy and multiple efforts. It seemed like they were just ahead of us on both ends of the floor. Offensively and defensively. Yeah, that’s usually not a good recipe.”
The 2025 Finals MVP has lost his superstar touch in recent games, making seven of his 21 field goal attempts against the Hornets, his lowest field goal percentage this season (33%). He’s now shot less than 40% from the field in his last two games (36.4% against Phoenix), the first time he has done that in consecutive games since the 2021-22 season.
It’s OKC’s first loss against a team with a losing record since losing to the San Antonio Spurs (6-8) in November 2024. Before their loss to Charlotte, they had won their last 45 games against teams with losing records and were 50-2 over the past two seasons.
After starting the season 24-1, the Thunder are 6-6 in their last 12 games (30-7). It’s their worst stretch of basketball in two years, and the first time they don’t look completely invincible.
What happened for it to be so bad last night? Poor shooting. The Thunder shot 36.6% from the floor and 28.2% from three, making it extremely difficult to win any game when you can’t make a basket.
In the OKC starting five, only Aaron Wiggins made more than one three-point shot, with Gilgeous-Alexander going one-for-six, Luguentz Dort going one-for-four, and Chet Holmgren following suit.
Let’s not forget about the Charlotte Hornets, who came into the game smelling blood and executed aggressively on the offensive and defensive end.
The Hornets were led by Brandon Miller, who scored 28 points and made seven of 10 shots from three, and their rookie sensation Kon Knueppel, who registered 23 points and made five of seven three-point shots.
The Hornets made 51.7% of their three-point shots, capping off a remarkable shooting display and a win that could propel their season to new heights.
Despite an awful shooting night for Gilgeous-Alexander, he was still able to score 21 points. The Canadian’s streak of scoring 20 or more points has stretched to 108 games. He and his OKC team need to sort out their offensive issues so the 2025 MVP can match Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126 straight games of scoring 20 or more points.