Oklahoma City's Surrounding Cast Uplifts Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Atypical Performance in Win

OKC needed its supporting cast to help out the defending MVP on the offensive end on Tuesday night. They did just that to secure a win inside the Paycom Center.

Jan 27, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Isaiah Joe (11) shoots a three point basket as New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) defends during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder were able to snap a two-game losing stint on Tuesday, managing a nine-point win over the New Orleans Pelicans at home.

After a stretch which has seen the Thunder shoot poorly as a unit, seeing Gilgeous-Alexander receive some much-needed support was immense for this team to help re-establish some momentum.

A 104-95 victory on its home floor snapped that losing streak to close out a three-game home stand, making it the first win on the Thunder's home floor in two weeks—primarily due to a four-game road stint in between, which Oklahoma City went 3-1 during that span.

But for a team that holds the depth and versatility as it does, being without Jalen Wiliams and Isaiah Hartenstein has consistently plagued this team, and it's constantly showing up in the box scores night in and night out. Gilgeous-Alexander has often had to play hero ball offensively as the team has lost its bread and butter in generating defense into easy points on the other end.

But even past the team's inconsistency in that regard, the defending MVP's supporting cast just hasn't performed well enough offensively to mitigate the Thunder's five losses in January

Against the Pelicans though, that changed. Amid a poor shooting night from Gilgeous-Alexander—where he still put up 29 points thanks to shooting 13-of-14 from the free throw stripe, his surrounding core had his back.

Chet Holmgren put up a solid scoring performance with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, Lu Dort added four threes and Aaron Wiggins posted 13 points of his own to help round out the starting five's efforts.

On the bench, Isaiah Joe had himself a game. Five threes making half of his tries to tally 17 points on the night really helped put the Thunder over the edge and cap off a decent team shooting night from distance. The offensive cohesion has really been a function of the game that's been lagging for Oklahoma City, and that was slightly improved in the win over New Orleans.

Moving forward, Gilgeous-Alexander is going to need more of that same help against talented teams if they continue to be plagued by injuries. And on Thursday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the team assuredly will.