LAS VEGAS — The Oklahoma City Thunder had a team dinner to get to, and Jaylin Williams was encouraging teammates to get their showers over so the festivities could commence.
There were jokes about Oklahoma City’s mild … “hazing” is too strong of a word, but there is a wheel at the team’s practice facility listing chores rookies have to complete if they are made to spin it. It was Alex Caruso’s idea Saturday night that the rookies have to spin every time the team loses.
Which isn’t too often.
Because the Thunder are defending NBA champions, and the reigning MVP and finals MVP is on their side, and because they have a smothering, all-time defense, and because they are riding one of the very best starts to a campaign in league history, what happened Saturday night in Sin City, before the team dinner, was an actual stunner.
The Thunder’s franchise-record 16-game winning streak was snapped by the San Antonio Spurs in a 111-109 loss before 18,519 fans in an NBA Cup semifinal at T-Mobile Arena.
The last time Oklahoma City lost (Nov. 5), Shedeur Sanders wasn’t a starting NFL quarterback, Notre Dame was in line for the College Football Playoff, the federal government was still shut down and LeBron James was weeks away from starting his 23rd pro season. That’s a lot to happen between losses in an NBA season.
The atmosphere inside the Thunder’s locker room was loose, because after 16 consecutive wins and victories in 24 of their first 25 games, dropping one to the Spurs and losing out on the full boat of $530,000 per player that goes to the cup champions could only sting a little. An NBA title defense, which no one in the league has done successfully since 2018, and a real chance to win 70 or more regular-season games are all still very much on the table.
But there was at least a modicum of disappointment expressed by the Thunder’s stars in postgame interviews, because if they’re keeping score (and they are), about the only thing this OKC group has not been able to win is the NBA Cup. Last year, the Thunder lost in the Vegas-based championship, and this year it was a semifinal defeat.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” said Jalen Williams, who shot 5-for-17 and finished with 17 points. “There’s perspective on it, for sure. I think an average team would probably be like, ‘Oh, it’s the cup, whatever, we lost one.’ What are we, 24-2? I mean, we can go home and just hang our hat on that, or we can look at it as a way to get better and understand that we played against a playoff team that beat us and gave us a two on our (loss record). So, that’s how we’ll look at it from a competitive standpoint.”
Oklahoma City hadn’t played a truly close game since Nov. 30. Its last four wins are by a combined 112 points. One might say a cup semifinal, with heightened national attention and a 7-foot-5 guy on the other team who scares the living daylights out of would-be shooters and drivers of the ball, and can also bomb 3s while serving as arguably the most unstoppable lob threat ever, is not the time to lose a little focus. To be sure, Victor Wembanyama, in his return from a strained calf that kept him out a month, changed the game when he entered for the first time in the second quarter. The Spurs outscored the Thunder by 21 points in the nearly 21 awesome minutes Wembanyama logged, and his presence seemed to unlock the Spurs in other ways. They started making 3s after missing their first 11 and played much better perimeter defense.
But the Thunder were, for them, a little sloppy. They didn’t move the ball like necessary against a Wemby-anchored defense. Their 15 turnovers cost them 26 points. (Usually the Thunder are the league’s best at turning over its opponent and converting the turnovers into points.) Jalen Williams didn’t shoot well (17 points on 5-of-16 shooting), nor did Lu Dort (three points on 1-of-7 shooting), nor did Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29 points but 1-of-7 shooting on 3s). They came in leading the NBA in defense, net rating, forcing turnovers and scoring off turnovers.
“We can’t be spoiled,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, whose 29 points equated to his 97th consecutive game with at least 20. “We can’t think we’re above anything. Us, along with every team in the league, if you show up on a night and don’t do the necessary thing to win, you probably won’t win, no matter how talented or no matter what your record looks like. That was the case for us (Saturday).”
The NBA Cup, now in its third season, was created to generate a little excitement during a regular-season schedule that many say is too long and is not taken seriously enough. It’s been a success, as the games seem to carry a little more importance, the intensity is higher and, while the cup may not yet carry with it the prestige commissioner Adam Silver wants (give it time), the extra money is an incentive, as is the idea of trying to win something.
Once the cup is over, as it is now for Oklahoma City and the Orlando Magic, and will be after Tuesday’s championship between the Spurs and New York Knicks, a monotony can set in. All of a sudden, the first days of winter on the calendar arrive, there are still 56 regular-season games to go and nothing other than seeding left to play for until the playoffs start.
But by winning 24 out of 25, the Thunder opened themselves up to (this is a good thing) questions about going for it, about making the regular season count, insofar as gunning for the NBA record 73 wins reeled off by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, or simply becoming just third team ever to win 70. Oklahoma City can do it, if it avoids a let down.
“Seventy-three and nine? I mean, the position we’re in right now, what are we, 24-2? My goal is to get better,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “So if we get better than what we are now, that should take care of itself. That’s kind of how I see it. Goals to me are pointless trying to reach at when they are so far away. You have to take care of everything step-by-step, and tonight we didn’t. If we stack nights like we did tonight, we won’t even come close to it.”
The Thunder play at home against the scuffling Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, and the next night play at Minnesota. Then they’ll host Memphis, which will be without promising center Zach Edey for a while, followed by a home-and-home with the Spurs on Dec. 23 and on Christmas.
Yes, the Thunder will have those games circled, although they are still much more of a measuring stick for San Antonio. The Spurs are a younger, less-experienced team trying to understand how much further they have to go to be considered a contender.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder were frustrated to lose to the Spurs Saturday night, but they have bigger goals in mind. (Kirby Lee / Imagn Images)
Oklahoma City, obviously, is already there. Simply avoid catastrophic injury, and the Thunder will be in great shape to have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. Already, with Christmas coming up next week, the Thunder could literally play .500 basketball from now until the end of the regular season and finish with 52 wins. We know they’re going to do a lot better than that.
But how much better? That’s up to them. Can they maintain the focus and dedication to detail that carried them last year to the ultimate prize, and to scaring the hell out of the rest of the NBA for the first two months? Can they chase greatness in a real attempt to join the Steph Curry-Klay Thompson-Draymond Green Warriors from last decade, and the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls? The Warriors, when they set the league record, started 24-1 like Oklahoma City, but didn’t lose their second game until Dec. 30, and their third on Jan. 13.
So if the Thunder are going to chase those ghosts, they need to return to action Thursday with urgency. If they do, they might just make the NBA regular season cool again once the NBA Cup becomes a memory.
“I think that’s why we’ve been so good this year, is holding ourselves to a different standard than looking at it from like a winner’s perspective and taking your foot off the gas a little bit,” Williams said.
He added: “Obviously down the road, whenever that gets there, it’s like, all right, do we sacrifice health when we’re already solidified at the 1 or whatever the spot is? You get into those questions, we can answer those down the road.
“But a lot of it is just seeing how good we can be every game and if it results in a win and we get there, then that’s cool.”