It only took one game for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to show massive improvement

The OKC Thunder took care of business during their 2024-25 season opener, beating the Denver Nuggets on the road in a slam-dunk affair.

As a collective, Oklahoma City reminded the masses why they were the top seed in the Western Conference last year. Front and center, they showcased their top-notch tackling skills, which allowed them to go past the century mark by dropping 102 points while holding Nikola Jokic and company to 87 points on a poor 35.4 percent shooting rate scored from the field.

While there were many takeaways from Thursday's first game, perhaps the most notable and, frankly, important of all is the continued growth of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's scoring repertoire.

During this year's preseason, all eyes were on SGA's seemingly improved shooting portfolio, particularly when it came to his willingness to make pull-ups from long two-point range and even from beyond the arc.

In three games played, the 26-year-old hit a highly efficient 63.6 percent of his long-range shots, which is a big step in the right direction compared to his career average of just 34.9 percent in the regular season.

This shift in confidence with his shooting caught the attention of fans, pundits and even his own teammates, as soon-to-be running mate Chet Holmgren highlighted the All-Star's progress as a shooter, emphatically saying:

“He didn’t take that many shots at all last year, and now he takes them 10 times in a row in practice and makes nine of them.”

For some, this could simply be due to the sub-100% performance of the opposing defense during pre-season. But during Thursday's opener against the Nuggets, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed that his newfound affinity for making them fly from longer distances was more than just a phase.

In the 36 minutes played in the Thunder's season opener, the point guard recorded 24 shot attempts across all players, with a large portion of them coming from pull-up style and from mid- to long-range on the hardwood.

Even though he only conceded 33.3 percent of his long balls, it was encouraging to see him make a total of six attempts from 3-point land, as this addition to his game will only keep defenders on their toes.

The reigning MVP runner-up is already known around the league for having one of, if not the most, comprehensive bag of tricks among active players and is considered a daunting task for any opponent.

However, the consensus has always been that he could be virtually unstoppable if he added a consistent pull-up to his game, and on opening night he showed that tool is close to reaching its peak.