Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder visited Houston tonight to face Kevin Durant and the Rockets for the second time this season after opening night, and came away with a resounding 111-91 win.
During a play in the third quarter of the game, Amen Thompson brought the ball down the court while Kevin Durant set a screen on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The reigning MVP’s reaction to the screen raised multiple eyebrows on social media as he stumbled on what looked like minimal contact with Durant.
SGA just came up with a brand new way to foul bait 😭💀 pic.twitter.com/OTNM6MGJeL
— Hater Report (@HaterReport_) January 16, 2026
While the officials did not call a foul, the Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault looked stunned by the reactions of the referees, who let the game go on.
Several fans saw this play and took to social media to express their views on Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to handle physicality, throwing terms like “fragile” and “foul-baiter” loosely online.
“Unethical hooper.”
“What is this? 😳”
“This is AI, right?”
“That’s actually insane.”
“I’m so tired of this dude.”
“It’s getting out of hand. 😂”
Many such reactions flooded the viral post on social media. Since no foul was called at the time, the officiating was not subject to criticism. However, fans were clearly not amused with the new ways that Gilgeous-Alexander found to initiate contact.
While both stars began the night struggling from the floor, Gilgeous-Alexander eventually found his rhythm and kept his 20-point streak alive despite not scoring a single point in the first half. The last time he was held to a scoreless first quarter was in November 2021 against the Rockets as well.
He finished tonight with 20 points, two rebounds, four assists, and two blocks while shooting 6-11 from the field (54.5%) and 1-3 from the three-point line (33.3%). The reigning MVP extended his 20-point streak to 112 consecutive games, second only to Wilt Chamberlain (126 games).
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant finished the game with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals, and one block while shooting 7-23 from the floor (30.4%) without making a single three-point shot tonight.
Durant took accountability for his performance after the game, saying he needed to be better with his shotmaking to inspire the team and lead from the front. His inefficiency on the floor tonight largely contributed to the failure of the Rockets to find any momentum offensively throughout the night.
The Thunder did not give up the lead throughout after the first quarter and blew the game apart by as many as 25 points in the fourth quarter. Durant credited the Thunder’s swarming defense for restricting his offensive contributions tonight and did not think they were tiptoeing the line of permissible physicality.
Therefore, it was clear that the Rockets were the ones who failed to bounce back after a rough start from their superstar player and not the Thunder. The Rockets fell to 23-15 following this loss and will host the Timberwolves tomorrow (January 16) for their next game.
Simultaneously, the Thunder have improved to 35-7 following this win and extended their winning streak to five games. They will face the Heat in their next game on Saturday (January 17).
