Oklahoma City’s situation is far from ideal, and it can’t rely solely on its superstar to keep the team winning. 

On Saturday night, the Thunder’s nightmare week concluded with a 119-98 loss to the Houston Rockets to fall to 4-2. In 30 minutes of action, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a team-high 26 points on 10-of-20 shooting. 

Had the Thunder had another four All-Defensive players on the floor, two of whom are also All-NBA, Gilgeous-Alexander’s outing would likely have been enough for a win. However, that simply isn’t the Thunder’s reality at this point in time. 

With a 26-point night in just three quarters of play, Gilgeous-Alexander showcased his elite scoring ability. Of course, that wasn’t enough for the Thunder to come out of Houston with a win, as they lost Gilgeous-Alexander’s minutes by seven points. 

Even if the Thunder had broken even in Gilgeous-Alexander’s time on the court and he added a few more buckets in the fourth quarter, it probably wouldn’t have been enough to change the outcome of a 21-point contest. Unfortunately for the Thunder, that might be the clearest takeaway from the past two matchups. 

Regardless of how well Gilgeous-Alexander plays, he’ll need some real help on most nights to get his team some wins. As a two-time MVP, there will naturally be some nights when he scores 40+ and drags the Thunder to wins. 

However, that can’t be what an average Thunder win looks like if the team still wants a real chance at reaching its goals. Ideally, the Thunder’s offense will settle into the new reality and become more consistent and more effective. 

So far this season, Gilgeous-Alexander’s assist totals have been sliced in half compared to last year. Despite dropping from 6.6 assists per game in his second MVP year to 3.3 assists through these first six games, it’s tough to blame that on Gilgeous-Alexander. 

His 13 potential assists per game this season actually eclipse the 12.7 he averaged last season, but his teammates haven’t finished off his passes at anywhere near the same rate. If that levels out, and Gilgeous-Alexander’s teammates can generally make life a bit easier offensively, the Thunder should be able to get through the next few weeks just fine. 

It certainly helps Oklahoma City to have an all-time great scorer who could drag his team to a win on any given night, but the Thunder can’t afford to rely on those types of efforts every game.