In Las Vegas, preparations are underway as the Oklahoma City Thunder prepare to compete in the NBA Cup semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs. With a remarkable record of 24-1 heading into the game, the Thunder are drawing comparisons to the iconic 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, who set the NBA record with 73 wins in a single season. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s star guard, expressed his enthusiasm about chasing such milestones during the NBA Cup media availability.
“Absolutely,” he affirmed when asked if the pursuit of this record mattered to him and his teammates. “Winning matters. And no matter what form it looks like to me. So absolutely.”
With the Thunder having won 16 consecutive games, they are on track to challenge various historical records and are just shy of the halfway mark of the legendary 33-game winning streak set by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers. When informed about this record, Gilgeous-Alexander noted with surprise: “Wow, that’s a lot more games to win. Yeah, we are so far from that. I didn’t even know, so that hasn’t even come close to creeping in my mind. But hopefully we get there. That’s the goal.”
Spurs forward Harrison Barnes, who played a pivotal role in the record-setting Warriors team, acknowledged the difficulty of maintaining such a historic pace. Reflecting on his experiences, he commented on the toll that the pursuit of a record can take on a team: “It’s tiring. It’s tiring. Obviously, you deal with all types of narratives going into the season and things like that. But everything’s different. It was a lot.”
Despite the buzz surrounding their potential to break records, Gilgeous-Alexander and his teammates have stressed the need to stay focused on continuous improvement rather than the distractions of fame and accolades. “We are trying to be a better version of ourselves every night we go out there,” he explained. “If we didn’t get better tonight, then we wasted an opportunity. That’s kind of how we see it.”
The upcoming semifinal holds additional importance as it counts toward the regular-season standings and extends the Thunder’s current winning streak. However, the championship game itself does not have the same weight in terms of regular-season implications. The Thunder are coming off last season’s disappointing loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Cup final, but have stated that past experiences do not weigh heavily on their present ambitions.
“It’s always the same feeling,” Gilgeous-Alexander said regarding the motivation to win. “Whenever you get a chance to play for something and win, it’s always the goal to win. It would be phenomenal to win, that’s for sure.”
Forward Jalen Williams echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the team’s approach to commitment and performance: “If we are going to apply ourselves to anything, let’s do it to the best of your ability and try to win. That’s just our nature. That’s just how we play basketball.”
In a boost for the Thunder, center Isaiah Hartenstein has been cleared to play after missing the previous six games due to a calf strain, allowing them to field their preferred starting lineup for the first time this season as they gear up for a crucial matchup against the Spurs.
