The Oklahoma City Thunder destroyed the Phoenix Suns 138-89 on Wednesday for their 16th straight win. They are now 24-1 and have advanced to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas. They'll play the San Antonio Spurs, who beat the Los Angeles Lakers to advance. The semifinal games are Saturday night.
Oklahoma City just doesn't lose anymore. The Thunder set a franchise record on Wednesday, winning their 16th straight game in a 138-89 rout of the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Cup quarterfinals. They are now 24-1, tying the best mark ever to start an NBA season.
It was the worst loss in Phoenix history, and added to Oklahoma City's margin of victory 17.4 points per game. They sent an NBA record last year with a plus-12.9 average point differential, and could obliterate that record this season.
Seventeen of the Thunder's wins have come by double-digits. Their 24-1 mark ties the Golden State Warriors in 2015-15 for the best start to a season. They did that in their record-setting 73-9 regular season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 28 points and Chet Holmgren added 24.
"I thought we had good mental toughness tonight," said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. "It's hard to play with leads. It's hard not to get distracted by the score. I thought the group to start the third quarter came out and threw the first punch, and that energy continued through the third.
"Then the group in the fourth quarter did a great job of just kind of playing the next possession. That's how you build habits. You can take steps backwards in a game like that, even though you may end up winning the game."
Here's the game story from Thunder Roundtable publisher Nick Crain.
The Thunder won 68 games a year ago and took the 2024 NBA title in a thrilling seven-game series with the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. They want to repeat, of course, but they also don't look back. They are staying in the moment.
They also don't look ahead. They aren't getting overly concerned with their own 16-game winning streak or that NBA record of 73 wins set by the Warriors. It's one game at a time, and continuing to get better.
"I'd say it starts with the standard that we have," said forward Chet Holmgren, who had 24 points, eight rebounds and three blocks on Wednesday night. "It continues with the respect we have for each other and the enjoyment that we have doing this together.
"And then it kind of all culminates in just trying to learn from every experience -- good, bad, close game, blowout, whatever it might be. Just try to keep learning from them, keep getting better and having fun while we're doing that."
OKC will play the San Antonio Spurs in Saturday's semifinal game in Las Vegas. They beat the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. Stephon Castle led the way with 30 points for the Spurs, who played without star Victor Wembanyama (calf) for the 12th straight game. They are 9-3 in his absence, but are hoping he can return this weekend.
The New York Knicks (17-7) and Orlando Magic (15-10) have advanced to the other NBA Cup semifinal in Las Vegas.