<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-chet-holmgren-excited-face-victor-wembanyama-spurs-nba-cup');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Thunder’s Chet Holmgren is excited to face Victor Wembanyama, Spurs in NBA Cup');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Chet-Holmgren-Spurs-Victor-Wembanyama.jpg"><figcaption>Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Thunder’s Chet Holmgren is excited to face Victor Wembanyama, Spurs in NBA Cup</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-12T18:53:05-08:00">December 12th, 6:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-12T18:53:05-08:00">December 12th, 6:53pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After losing the NBA Cup final to the Milwaukee Bucks without Chet Holmgren last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder are back in the semifinals to take on Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas. All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reveals-nba-cup-hunter-mentality">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander discussed the Thunder’s hunter mentality</a> as defending champions this season, which hasn’t faltered amid a near-perfect start through 2025-26’s first 25 games.</p><p>The Spurs, who’ve been without Wembanyama since November 15, are expected to have the towering All-Star center back to take on the Thunder. Holmgren explained <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFfg31LFkiA&amp;t=284s" rel="noopener">why he’s excited</a> to take on Wembanyama and the Spurs.</p><p>“We wanna play against really good teams that’s fully healthy with all their best players,” Holmgren said. “They’re a great team already, and to get him back is only going to make them better. So, I’m excited.”</p><p>The Spurs have won four of their last five games, including a 132-119 NBA Cup quarterfinal win against the Los Angeles Lakers without Victor Wembanyama.</p><p>“The Spurs are a great young team,” Holmgren added. “They’re hungry. They’re playing right now. You add Victor to that, and it only makes them better. So, we’re excited to play against them. I’m sure they’re excited to play against us, and I think it should be a good game.”</p><p>The Spurs (17-7) are now tied with the Lakers for the fourth-best record in the Western Conference.</p><h2><b>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunters mentality’</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak">Thunder extended its winning streak to 16 straight</a> in Wednesday’s 138-89 NBA Cup quarterfinal victory against the Suns. Ahead of facing the Suprs, Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwjF87Fnsq0" rel="noopener">discussed his team’s approach</a> this season and how it’s led to the league’s best 24-1 record.</p><p>“We go out there with a hunter’s mentality ourselves, and honestly, we go out there to better ourselves,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m sure you guys have heard the stories about some of my teammates competing against each other during the games to get steals, and things like that — that’s where our minds is. We’re trying to be a better version of ourselves every night we go out there. We like to hunt in that form.</p><p>“If we didn’t get better tonight, then we wasted an opportunity. That’s kind of how we see it.”</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Thunder’s Chet Holmgren is excited to face Victor Wembanyama, Spurs in NBA Cup

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-reveals-nba-cup-hunter-mentality');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander_928dac.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-12T15:46:32-08:00">December 12th, 3:46pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-12T15:46:32-08:00">December 12th, 3:46pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Despite the defending champion’s emphatic near-perfect record, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder still strive to improve. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-bonkers-stat-shows-how-dominant-24-1-start-been">24-1 Thunder is on a 16-game winning streak</a> entering the NBA Cup semifinal game against the San Antonio Spurs.</p><p>Gilgeous-Alexander addressed the Thunder’s <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999617408479428958" rel="noopener">approach as defending champions</a> this season during his media availability in Las Vegas.</p><p>“We go out there with a hunter’s mentality ourselves, and honestly, we go out there to better ourselves,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I’m sure you guys have heard the stories about some of my teammates competing against each other during the games to get steals, and things like that — that’s where our minds is. We’re trying to be a better version of ourselves every night we go out there, we like to hunt in that form.</p><p>“If we didn’t get better tonight, then we wasted an opportunity. That’s kind of how we see it.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"We go out there with a hunter's mentality… We're trying to be a better version of ourselves every night we go out there, we like to hunt in that form."</p><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the OKC Thunder mindset coming into the NBA Cup 🏆</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBA</a>)<a href="https://t.co/JYt32uiQzy">pic.twitter.com/JYt32uiQzy</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999617408479428958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 12, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder cruised to a 138-89 win against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Cup quarterfinal at the Paycom Center, where Oklahoma City is a perfect 12-0 this season. The Spurs earned their spot in Vegas after beating the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119 on Wednesday.</p><p>All-Star Victor Wembanyama, who’s been sidelined with a left calf strain since November 14, is expeted to return for the Spurs.</p><h2><b>Why Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on Thunder’s streak</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2_c08202.jpg"><figcaption>Kirby Lee-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak">Mark Daigneault addressed his team’s 16-game winning streak</a> after Wednesday’s victory, explaining how his team’s lack of focus on the hype surrouding them has helped players stay locked in. It’s the kind of ideal mental focus Daigneault sees in the Thunder’s approach, which is at a high level, and has resulted in a team rattling off 16 consecutive wins.</p><p>“Not focusing on the win streak,” Daigneault said, is critical. “You just gotta play the next possession, get better the next day, win the next quarter, and compete in the next game. If you do that and you’re present in the process, sometimes you look up, and you win a certain amount of games in a row. But we certainly need to understand that we still have a lot of improvement to make. We have a lot of things to sustain and a lot of competitive challenges ahead.</p><p>“There’s a lot of season ahead of us. But guys have done a great job of staying very present in the season, so far, competing in the moment, and it’s put us in a nice position,” Daigneault concluded.</p><p>The Thunder will face the Spurs in Las Vegas on Saturday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/san-antonio-spurs/spurs-news-victor-wembanyama-likely-make-injury-return-nba-cup-thunder');   ga('set', 'title', 'Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama ‘likely’ to make injury return in NBA Cup vs. Thunder');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Victor-Wembanyama-warms-up-before-a-game-in-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama ‘likely’ to make injury return in NBA Cup vs. Thunder</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-12T12:18:49-08:00">December 12th, 12:18pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-12T13:00:30-08:00">December 12th, 1:00pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Denver Nuggets</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The long-awaited return of San Antonio Spurs All-Star Victor Wembanyama has finally arrived, and just in time for the NBA Cup semifinal game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/san-antonio-spurs/spurs-news-mitch-johnson-open-victor-wembanyama-return-thunder">Spurs’ Wembanyama was reportedly expected to return</a> for Saturday’s matchup against the Thunder before a report on Friday made things official.</p><p>Wembanyama is <a href="https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1999569968313036854" rel="noopener">expected to be back</a> in action for the Spurs’ NBA Cup game against the Thunder, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.</p><p>“San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama is likely to return for Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Las Vegas, sources tell ESPN,” Charania reported. “Final clearance will come after today’s practice for Wembanyama, who’s been sidelined since Nov. 14 due to a calf strain.”</p><p>Wembanyama has missed the last 12 games. The Spurs, who have fared well in Wemby’s absence with a 9-3 record, will look to snap the Thunder’s historic 16-game winning streak to advance to the NBA Cup final in Las Vegas. The winner between Oklahoma City and San Antonio will face the winner of the semifinals matchup between the New York Knicks and the Orlando Magic.</p><p>The Spurs will face the Thunder in the NBA Cup semifinal in Las Vegas on Saturday.</p><h2><b>Mitch Johnson on Spurs Victor Wembanyama’s potential return</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Spurs-star-Victor-Wembanyama-vs-Lakers.jpg"><figcaption>Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson felt good about Victor Wembanyama’s chances of returning to the floor to face the Thunder. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/san-antonio-spurs/spurs-dylan-harper-stephon-castle-nba-cup-quarterfinals-lakers">Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle led the Spurs</a> to victory in the NBA Cup quarterfinals against the Lakers, which is the kind of positive momentum for Wembanyama to return to ahead of attempting to hand the Thunder only its second loss of the season.</p><p>Johnson revealed Wembanyama was <a href="https://x.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/1998994051836899434" rel="noopener">trending in the right direction</a> after Spurs’ practice on Thursday, per The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.</p><p>“[He could return] very much so. He had a very good day today. He had a good intent day this morning, and we’ll have to see how he responds and reacts tomorrow,” Johnson said.</p><p>Wembanyama’s final status for Saturday’s NBA Cup semifinal game against the Thunder will be announced shortly.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama ‘likely’ to make injury return in NBA Cup vs. Thunder

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-brian-windhorst-already-reserved-nba-finals-dinner');   ga('set', 'title', 'Brian Windhorst already reserved Thunder-NBA Finals dinner and it’s absurdly serious');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-2_8f3b29.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Brian Windhorst already reserved Thunder-NBA Finals dinner and it’s absurdly serious</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-12T11:51:30-08:00">December 12th, 11:51am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-12T11:51:30-08:00">December 12th, 11:51am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>ESPN’s Brian Windhorst is so confident in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s trajectory that he has <a href="https://youtu.be/TIY1OjWLqcU?t=2336" rel="noopener">already made dinner reservations</a> for the NBA Finals — and he insists the preparation is no joke. Speaking on the latest episode of The Hoop Collective, Windhorst detailed his unusually specific planning based on his belief that the Thunder will finish the season with the league’s best record.</p><p>Windhorst revealed that his reservations are not for a generic postseason trip but for exact dates tied to the Thunder hosting Games 1, 2, 5 and 7 of the NBA Finals in Oklahoma City.</p><p>“I have indeed made my finals reservations in Oklahoma City and I did not make it for Game three, and four, and six. I only made it for Games one, two, five, and seven because I don’t think the games three, and four, and six are going to be there. Okay, because they’re going to have the best record. I went ahead this week and actually made a restaurant reservation. Not at Lake Hefner, but at a different restaurant that I know I’ll want to eat at, I made it. Because I know that the day after Game 1 I’ll want to eat there, and that’ll be a Friday night and it’ll be hard to get in, so I made it.”</p><p>Windhorst also noted that he has adopted a strict seating policy for these hypothetical Finals dinners, borrowing the idea from longtime San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich.</p><p>“And five, only five. I took this from Gregg Popovich. My dinner is only five. If somebody wants to I will allow a sixth person if it’s a spouse because when spouses are with their husbands or wives during the playoffs, I never want them to feel. So I’ll allow under that grace a sixth. And if somebody says I want to be like sixth, seventh, or eighth, I go, ‘Hey, go do your own dinner, I don’t need to eat with you, see you next time.’”</p><h2><b>Thunder’s dominance reinforces Brian Windhorst’s confidence in another NBA Finals run</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-Jalen-Williams.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While the comments were delivered with a hint of humor, the logic behind Windhorst’s confidence is supported by Oklahoma City’s overwhelming on-court dominance. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-bonkers-stat-shows-how-dominant-24-1-start-been">reigning champions have opened the 2025–26 campaign with a 24–1 record</a> and are currently riding a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak">16-game win streak entering their NBA Cup semifinals matchup against the San Antonio Spurs</a> (17–7) on Saturday at 9 p.m. ET on Prime Video in Las Vegas.</p><p>The Thunder have built on last season’s 68–14 performance — a campaign highlighted by a historic +12.8 net rating — by producing numbers even more imposing this year. Oklahoma City ranks second in scoring at 123.6 points per game, trailing only the Denver Nuggets (125.5). Defensively, the Thunder have been unmatched, holding opponents to a league-best 106.2 points per game.</p><p>Perhaps most notable is their staggering +17.5 net rating, which outpaces last season’s mark and underscores why Windhorst believes home-court advantage throughout the postseason, including the NBA Finals, is well within reach.</p><p>With the Thunder’s blend of star power, roster continuity and top-tier efficiency on both ends of the floor, Windhorst’s early dinner reservations — while unconventional — reflect just how formidable Oklahoma City has become in the league’s early months.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Brian Windhorst already reserved Thunder-NBA Finals dinner and it’s absurdly serious

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/nba-stories/nba-rumors-thunder-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade-2k-scenario-will-not-happen');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Thunder making Giannis Antetokounmpo trade is a ‘2K scenario’ that will not happen');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Bucks-Giannis-Antetokounmpo-Thunder.jpg"><figcaption>Benny Sieu-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Thunder making Giannis Antetokounmpo trade is a ‘2K scenario’ that will not happen</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T15:30:25-08:00">December 11th, 3:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T15:30:25-08:00">December 11th, 3:30pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Milwaukee Bucks</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>While various reports continue to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/milwaukee-bucks/bucks-rumors-shams-isnt-only-nba-insider-using-writing-on-wall-language-giannis-antetokounmpo-trade">suggest Giannis Antetokounmpo’s inevitably leaving the Milwaukee Bucks</a>, NBA fans shouldn’t bother suggesting the Oklahoma City Thunder’s best trade package. The 24-1 defending champion Thunder is most likely the only NBA roster that needs no improvements. GM Sam Presti mapped out a championship window by inking his core players — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren — to max extensions.</p><p>And while the Thunder’s most recent pair of losses date back to Game 6 of the NBA Finals in June, 25 games into the regular season, you can <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999215119033835591" rel="noopener">understand why predicting</a> a Antetokounmpo deal with Oklahoma City would only happen in NBA2K, as ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel said, per Clutch Scoops.</p><p>“The Thunder aren’t going to be in those kinds of conversations. I can say that with a lot of confidence,” Siegel said. “Any speculation of the Thunder going to trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo is just one of those 2K scenarios of the giants of the NBA getting better. It’s not going to happen. Sam Presti has a clear timeline of how their finances are going to work”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Latest NBA intel with <a href="https://twitter.com/TomerAzarly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TomerAzarly</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/BrettSiegelNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BrettSiegelNBA</a> — Clutch Scoops 12/11/2025 <a href="https://t.co/zI3JODVWjE">https://t.co/zI3JODVWjE</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1999215119033835591?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>It’s a position front offices dream to be in amid the NBA’s second-apron era, as the Thunder’s core is not only well under 30, but surrounded by a dynamic supporting cast of defenders, shooters, and playmakers. Oklahoma City’s deep roster has the Thunder on pace capture the most regular-season wins in league history.</p><h2><b>Thunder’s dominance has Stephen A Smith afraid for the NBA</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-1.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The defending champion Thunder have proven it doesn’t need another All-Star to dominate the NBA, as ESPN’s Stephen A Smith asked, why bother? <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-okcs-dominance-stephen-a-smith-worried-about-nba">Smith is afraid the NBA will become boring</a> during the regular season due to the Thunder’s dominance, he said, per ESPN’s First Take.</p><p>“OKC is on the verge of making this season that I was looking very much forward to very, very boring. They’re just that dominant,” said Smith on <a href="https://twitter.com/LegionHoops/status/1999156073912254489" rel="noopener">First Take</a>. “I’m sitting there like, ‘it doesn’t matter who they go against…’ It’s so dominant in OKC, even if you had the chance, with all the assets that you have, to get Giannis Antetokounmpo, why bother? You don’t need him. That’s how awesome they are… I just don’t know what to say.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Stephen A. Smith says the Thunder’s dominance has him worried for the NBA:</p><p>“OKC is on the verge of making this season that I was looking very much forward to very, very boring. They're just that dominant.”</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FirstTake</a>, h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/CyrusTheVirusP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CyrusTheVirusP</a>)<a href="https://t.co/4jglfYHXiD">pic.twitter.com/4jglfYHXiD</a></p><p>— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/LegionHoops/status/1999156073912254489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Thunder won its 16th consecutive game to improve its record to 24-1.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Thunder making Giannis Antetokounmpo trade is a ‘2K scenario’ that will not happen

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-okcs-dominance-stephen-a-smith-worried-about-nba');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Thunder’s dominance has Stephen A. Smith ‘worried about the NBA’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/The-Thunder-celebrate.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Thunder’s dominance has Stephen A. Smith ‘worried about the NBA’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T13:16:06-08:00">December 11th, 1:16pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T13:16:06-08:00">December 11th, 1:16pm</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Wednesday evening, the<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-jalen-williams-reflects-crazy-winning-streak-flashback-73-point-loss"> Oklahoma City Thunder improved</a> to 24-1 on the 2025-26 NBA season with a dominant 49-point home <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-chet-holmgren-surprising-take-grayson-allen-flagrant-2-foul">victory over the Phoenix Suns</a> in the knockout round of the NBA Cup. With the win, the Thunder advanced to Las Vegas, where they will take on the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.</p><p>The Thunder have hit another level of dominance so far this season on the heels of their championship from a year ago, and recently, ESPN sports media personality Stephen A. Smith <a href="https://x.com/LegionHoops/status/1999156073912254489" rel="noopener">took to the airwaves</a> with a reason why their elite play has him concerned for the league as a whole.</p><p>“OKC is on the verge of making this season that I was looking very much forward to very, very boring. They’re just that dominant,” said Smith on First Take, per Legion Hoops on X, formerly Twitter. “I’m sitting there like, ‘it doesn’t matter who they go against…’ It’s so dominant in OKC, even if you had the chance, with all the assets that you have, to get Giannis Antetokounmpo, why bother? You don’t need him. That’s how awesome they are… I just don’t know what to say.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Stephen A. Smith says the Thunder’s dominance has him worried for the NBA:</p><p>“OKC is on the verge of making this season that I was looking very much forward to very, very boring. They're just that dominant.”</p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FirstTake</a>, h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/CyrusTheVirusP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CyrusTheVirusP</a>)<a href="https://t.co/4jglfYHXiD">pic.twitter.com/4jglfYHXiD</a></p><p>— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/LegionHoops/status/1999156073912254489?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Indeed, the Thunder have reached a level of superiority over the league that many pundits didn’t think was possible anymore considering the supposed era of parity that the NBA is currently living through.</p><p>However, the team’s cornucopia of two-way players, as well as their high-end star talent in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, has allowed them to skyrocket above the competition and assure everyone that their championship from a year ago was just the start of their run.</p><p>In any case, the Thunder will next take the floor on Saturday evening from Las Vegas against the Spurs. The winner of that game will move on to the NBA Cup final, where they will take on either the Orlando Magic or the New York Knicks.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Thunder’s dominance has Stephen A. Smith ‘worried about the NBA’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-jalen-williams-reflects-crazy-winning-streak-flashback-73-point-loss');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Jalen Williams reflects on crazy winning streak with flashback to 73-point loss');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Jalen-Williams-Chet-Holmgren-1.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Jalen Williams reflects on crazy winning streak with flashback to 73-point loss</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T10:31:40-08:00">December 11th, 10:31am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T10:31:40-08:00">December 11th, 10:31am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star Jalen Williams will never take winning for granted and reminded his teammates to do the same while reflecting back on the worse loss in his team’s franchise history. After a 138-89 win against the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak">extending the Thunder’s winning streak to 16</a>, a reporter asked Williams if stacking up blowout wins ever become mundane for the defending champions.</p><p>While Williams, who was selected 12th overall by the Thunder in the 2022 draft, was still in college when the Memphis Grizzlies beat Oklahoma City by 73 points (152-79), the 2021 defeat <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1998960326117831098" rel="noopener">seemingly stayed with him</a> after all these years.</p><p>“Winning is never boring because there was a time where some players on our team were getting blown out. Not gonna name names, but we lost by 70,” Williams said. “So, I think a lot of guys have that in the back of their mind — even me, my first year. We weren’t winning a ton. We were solid. I think I have that in the back of my mind. You can get bored with the process.</p><p>“I think having the lineup that we had in at the end of the game, watching them be able to play is a little bit more motivation, too. They work really hard behind the scenes. So, for them to get the opportunity to go into these NBA games and kind of showcase what they were doing is a little bit more motivation, too.”</p><p>The Thunder’s 73-point loss, which happened in a regular-season game on December 2, 2021, is the largest defeat in NBA history. However, as Jalen Williams alluded to, the Thunder’s deep bench makes it easy for the starters to want to build a big enough cushion for third-string guys to play out the fourth quarters.</p><p>“We’re just playing hard. Not all of these games are going to be blowouts. We don’t take them for granted, either,” Williams added. “Winning is winning. We’ll take ugly wins. We’ll take pretty wins. It’s just how much better can we get in the win because we’ve had some blowouts where we’re not really satisfied with how we won. And we have games where it’s close and we like the way we played. So, it’s basketball. You can’t get tired of winning.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jalen Williams when asked if he’s ever bored from being in so many Thunder blowout wins: “Winning is never boring because there was a time some guys on our team were getting blown out…</p><p>We lost by 70. I think a lot of guys have that in the back of their mind” <a href="https://t.co/1EhMebb8tF">pic.twitter.com/1EhMebb8tF</a></p><p>— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1998960326117831098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>With Jalen Williams and the Thunder winning all but one of its first 25 games of the regular season, Oklahoma City doesn’t seem to be slowing down in wins anytime soon.</p><h2><b>Why Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on Thunder’s winning streak</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder head coach <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak">Mark Daigneault reacted to his team’s 16-game winning streak</a> by revealing what’s been critical in keeping it going.</p><p>“Not focusing on the win streak,” Daigneault said. “You just gotta play the next possession, get better the next day, win the next quarter, and compete in the next game. If you do that and you’re present in the process, sometimes you look up, and you win a certain amount of games in a row. But we certainly need to understand that we still have a lot of improvement to make. We have a lot of things to sustain and a lot of competitive challenges ahead.</p><p>“There’s a lot of season ahead of us. But guys have done a great job of staying very present in the season, so far, competing in the moment, and it’s put us in a nice position,” Daigneault concluded.</p><p>The Thunder will look to improve to 25-1 and advance to the NBA Cup final when it faces the Spurs in Las Vegas on Saturday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Jalen Williams reflects on crazy winning streak with flashback to 73-point loss

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-chet-holmgren-surprising-take-grayson-allen-flagrant-2-foul');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder forward Chet Holmgren’s surprising take on Grayson Allen’s Flagrant-2 foul');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-center-Chet-Holmgren.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder forward Chet Holmgren’s surprising take on Grayson Allen’s Flagrant-2 foul</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T08:55:49-08:00">December 11th, 8:55am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T08:55:49-08:00">December 11th, 8:55am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>OKLAHOMA CITY — While facing a 37-point deficit in the third quarter of a 138-89 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns guard <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-face-amid-near-all-out-brawl-sums-it-all-up">Grayson Allen committed a Flagrant-2 foul on Chet Holmgren</a>. Allen fought through Holmgren’s screen with an elbow across the chest that sent Chet to the ground. Players from both teams had to be separated before the officials reviewed the play.</p><p>After the Thunder won, Holmgren <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1998961404360188339" rel="noopener">reacted to</a> Allen’s dirty play during his postgame media availability.</p><p>“All five of us were right there. I just think when two really good teams are going at it, being physical, plays happen,” Holmgren said. “I think it was officiated correctly. But it happened. I moved on, kept trying to play a basketball game.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Chet Holmgren’s reacts to Grayson Allen’s Flagrant-2 in Thunder’s win against the Suns: <a href="https://t.co/jcf6MLEa4y">pic.twitter.com/jcf6MLEa4y</a></p><p>— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1998961404360188339?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Thunder handed the Suns one of their worst losses of the season while advancing to the NBA Cup semifinals, where it will face the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas on Saturday. Holmgren finished with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from deep, eight rebounds, three blocks, and two assists.</p><p>Allen exited the game with 10 points, four assists, and one steal.</p><p>“I thought the refs handled the situation tonight well,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said after the game. “Those things can get a little squirly from time to time if the refs don’t handle it with a firm hand. I thought they handled it appropriately tonight.”</p><h2><b>Jalen Williams on Grayson Allen’s flagrant foul in Thunder win</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-All-Star-Jalen-Williams-Chet-Holmgren.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Thunder All-Star <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-jalen-williams-doesnt-want-blow-grayson-allen-latest-dirty-incident">Jalen Williams had words for Grayson Allen’s ejection</a> during his postgame media availability. For Williams, Allen’s frustration reached a boiling point.</p><p>“We’re up 40. I think something happened the play before. So, there was probably some frustration there,” Williams said. “Just making sure I had Chet’s back and that’s about it. I don’t know. He’s kind of done it his whole career. So, I feel him. Just made sure I had my teammates and just go from there. It’s not anything really to be blown up. As bad as I want it to be, something that’s blown up, it’s the NBA. Nobody really fights anyway.”</p><p>The Thunder extended its franchise-record winning streak to 16, improving to 24-1 and tying the 2015-16 Warriors for the best start through 25 games in NBA history.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder forward Chet Holmgren’s surprising take on Grayson Allen’s Flagrant-2 foul

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-chet-holmgren-jalen-williams-giddy-over-reporters-att-commercial-with-sga');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams giddy over reporter’s new AT&T commercial with SGA');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Williams-and-Holmgren.jpg"><figcaption>Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams giddy over reporter’s new AT&amp;T commercial with SGA</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T08:38:07-08:00">December 11th, 8:38am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T08:54:04-08:00">December 11th, 8:54am</time><address><a>Jackson Stone</a>Jackson Stone is a Mercer University alum from Atlanta who graduated with a BA in communications. A lifelong sports lover, Jackson is a die-hard fan of all Atlanta teams. He joined ClutchPoints in 2023.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Wednesday evening, the<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak"> Oklahoma City Thunder punched their ticket</a> to the final four of the NBA Cup tournament with a 49-point win <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-okc-nba-history-nba-cup-suns-blowout">over the Phoenix Suns</a> in the quarterfinal round. The Thunder’s historically dominant net rating took another major uptick with this win, which sends the Thunder to Las Vegas for the second year in a row to compete for the tournament crown.</p><p>After games this season, the Thunder have been known to conduct group interviews on the court with sideline reporter Nick Gallo, who recently appeared in an AT&amp;T commercial with superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. On Wednesday, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams made sure to congratulate Gallo on his <a href="https://twitter.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1999032284012515406" rel="noopener">high-profile appearance.</a></p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams give a shoutout to Nick Gallo for his AT&amp;T commercial <a href="https://t.co/g2PsHII3bO">https://t.co/g2PsHII3bO</a> <a href="https://t.co/NBHDRkoOoi">pic.twitter.com/NBHDRkoOoi</a></p><p>— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1999032284012515406?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Overall, it was just another example of the infectious joy and camaraderie with which this Thunder team plays, and has played for quite some time.</p><p>The Thunder now sit at 24-1 on the 2025-26 NBA season, tied for the best start in NBA history with the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, and are well on pace to shatter the NBA records for net rating and wins in a single season.</p><p>Of course, Oklahoma City has had a startlingly easy schedule up to this point in the season, not having played some of the better teams in the league and also getting a light slate up to this point in terms of back to backs.</p><p>However, the team is still clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the NBA landscape at this point, and figures to only get better as time goes on and younger players like Ajay Mitchell continue to get more reps.</p><p>In any case, the Thunder now are set for a matchup this weekend in Las Vegas vs the San Antonio Spurs, in what will be a preview of the Christmas Day game between the two teams a couple of weeks after that.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams giddy over reporter’s new AT&T commercial with SGA

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-steve-nash-michael-jordan-shai-gilgeous-alexander');   ga('set', 'title', 'Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Steve-Nash-shoots-the-ball.jpg"><figcaption>Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><h1>Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T08:19:56-08:00">December 11th, 8:19am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T08:19:56-08:00">December 11th, 8:19am</time><address><a>Zachary Draves</a>Zachary Draves is a sportswriter and broadcaster based in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. Zachary covers a variety of different sports as well as sports history, sport and society, and sport and culture. He is also a professor of sociology.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Obviously, the OKC Thunder <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-okc-nba-history-nba-cup-suns-blowout">are the most dominant team in the NBA</a>. The defending champions are currently 24-1 and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-face-amid-near-all-out-brawl-sums-it-all-up">have the league’s top scorer</a>, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.</p><p>He is on such a tear right now that he has gotten former NBA player-turned-analyst Steve Nash to give him the highest compliment imaginable. That is putting him on the same plateau as Michael Jordan.</p><p>On Wednesday, Nash <a href="https://x.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1998981580208181454">made the case</a> by citing his numbers, per the NBA on Prime. All the while acknowledging that bringing up Jordan’s name in the context of a contemporary could be characterized as “sacrilegious.”</p><p>“Offensively This guy is entering the heir of Michael Jordan statistically, look at these numbers.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"Offensively This guy is entering the heir of Michael Jordan statistically, look at these numbers"  </p><p>– Steve Nash on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<a href="https://t.co/H3PyvP59mZ">pic.twitter.com/H3PyvP59mZ</a></p><p>— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrBuckBuckNBA/status/1998981580208181454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>As of now, SGA is averaging 32.6 points and 6.5 assists per game. Beyond that, he has a historic True Shooting (TS) percentage of 69%, first in the league. Also, he has the second-highest three-point shooting percentage at 44%. Furthermore, SGA is 6th in the league in 2-point shooting percentage of 60%.</p><p>Plus, SGA is averaging the fewest turnovers per game with 1.7. All in all, one of the most efficient starts for an NBA player in recent memory.</p><p>On Wednesday, the Thunder trounced the Phoenix Suns 138-89, and SGA scored 28 points, shot 11-for-15 from the field, and dished out eight assists.</p><h2><b>The parallels between SGA and Michael Jordan are evident </b></h2><p>When looking at their respective games, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexander-does-best-michael-jordan-impression-historic-feat">SGA and MJ mirror each other</a>. Both are known for their superb mid-range shooting, unmatched drive, and rising to the occasion when it counted most.</p><p>The last player to evoke those similarities to Jordan was truly Kobe Bryant. Also, just like Jordan didn’t make his varsity team in high school, SGA didn’t make the JV team in his freshmen year.</p><p>Both used that setback to fuel their intensity to prove they were the best. Obviously, Jordan’s championships speak for themselves and his legacy remains unmatched.</p><p>Meanwhile, SGA is building his legacy.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-jalen-williams-doesnt-want-blow-grayson-allen-latest-dirty-incident');   ga('set', 'title', 'Thunder’s Jalen Williams doesn’t want to ‘blow up’ Grayson Allen’s latest dirty incident');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Jalen-Williams-Suns-Grayson-Allen.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Thunder’s Jalen Williams doesn’t want to ‘blow up’ Grayson Allen’s latest dirty incident</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-11T08:08:56-08:00">December 11th, 8:08am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T08:54:08-08:00">December 11th, 8:54am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>OKLAHOMA CITY — As Jalen Williams and the Oklahoma City Thunder increased their second-half lead by a dozen points, Phoenix Suns guard <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-shai-gilgeous-alexanders-face-amid-near-all-out-brawl-sums-it-all-up">Grayson Allen committed a Flagrant-2 foul on Chet Holmgren</a>. Allen fought through Holmgren’s screen with an elbow across the chest that sent Chet to the ground. Players from both teams had to be separated before the officials reviewed the play, ruling it a Flagrant-2, which ended Allen’s night.</p><p>After the game, Williams responded to Allen’s controversial foul during his postgame media availability.</p><p>“We’re up 40. I think something happened the play before. So, there was probably some frustration there,” Williams said. “Just making sure I had Chet’s back and that’s about it. I don’t know. He’s kind of done it his whole career. So, I feel him. Just made sure I had my teammates and just go from there. It’s not anything really to be blown up. As bad as I want it to be, something that’s blown up, it’s the NBA. Nobody really fights anyway.”</p><p>The Thunder handed the Suns one of their worst losses of the season while advancing to the NBA Cup semifinals, where it will face the San Antonio Spurs in Las Vegas on Saturday. Holmgren finished with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including a perfect 4-for-4 from deep, eight rebounds, three blocks, and two assists.</p><p>Grayson Allen exited the game with 10 points, four assists, and one steal. Jalen Williams added 15 points on 5-of-8 attempts, five rebounds, five assists, and one steal for the Thunder.</p><p>“I thought the refs handled the situation tonight well,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said after the game. “Those things can get a little squirly from time to time if the refs don’t handle it with a firm hand. I thought they handled it appropriately tonight.”</p><h2><b>Why Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on Thunder’s streak</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Mark-Daigneault-Grayson-Allen-Chet-Holmgren.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Thunder are on their longest winning streak in franchise history — 16 in a row. What’s the secret to winning so many consecutive games? Head <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak">coach Mark Daigneault revealed the Thunder’s key ingredient</a> to keeping the streak going.</p><p>“Not focusing on the win streak,” Daigneault said. “You just gotta play the next possession, get better the next day, win the next quarter, and compete in the next game. If you do that and you’re present in the process, sometimes you look up, and you win a certain amount of games in a row. But we certainly need to understand that we still have a lot of improvement to make. We have a lot of things to sustain and a lot of competitive challenges ahead.</p><p>“There’s a lot of season ahead of us. But guys have done a great job of staying very present in the season, so far, competing in the moment, and it’s put us in a nice position,” Daigneault concluded.</p><p>The Thunder will face the Spurs in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday in Las Vegas.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Thunder’s Jalen Williams doesn’t want to ‘blow up’ Grayson Allen’s latest dirty incident

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-why-mark-daigneault-isnt-focused-16-game-win-streak');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Thunder’s Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on 16-game win streak');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunder-head-coach-Mark-Daigneault_156d20.jpg"><figcaption>Rob Gray-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Thunder’s Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on 16-game win streak</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-12-10T21:51:58-08:00">December 10th, 9:51pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-12-11T08:54:26-08:00">December 11th, 8:54am</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault addressed his team’s unprecedented 16-game winning streak after eliminating the Phoenix Suns in a 138-89 blowout win in the NBA Cup quarterfinal. The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-okc-nba-history-nba-cup-suns-blowout">Thunder’s near-perfect start extended its 24-1 record</a>, tying the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the best start in NBA history through 25 games.</p><p>However, extending the Thunder’s streak has never been a priority, according to Daigneault, which has been critical in securing the consecutive wins one game at a time. Daigneault delivered an honest response when a reporter asked him what the secret was to the Thunder’s emphatic <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1998955511396577795" rel="noopener">16-game winning streak</a>.</p><p>“Not focusing on the win streak,” Daigneault said. “You just gotta play the next possession, get better the next day, win the next quarter, and compete in the next game. If you do that and you’re present in the process, sometimes you look up, and you win a certain amount of games in a row. But we certainly need to understand that we still have a lot of improvement to make. We have a lot of things to sustain and a lot of competitive challenges ahead.</p><p>“There’s a lot of season ahead of us. But guys have done a great job of staying very present in the season, so far, competing in the moment, and it’s put us in a nice position,” Daigneault concluded.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Mark Daigneault on what’s critical throughout a 16-game winning streak: “Not focusing on the win streak…</p><p>We certainly need to understand we still have a lot of improvement to make. We have a lot of things to sustain, a lot of competitive challenges ahead” <a href="https://t.co/01DJYjxt1y">pic.twitter.com/01DJYjxt1y</a></p><p>— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) <a href="https://twitter.com/Joe_Sway/status/1998955511396577795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Mark Daigneault’s Thunder led a wire-to-wire victory as the Suns never held a single lead throughout the night. Oklahoma City’s largest lead in the game reached 53 points in the final frame. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including 3-for-4 from deep, and 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.</p><p>Chet Holmgren finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. Jalen Williams added 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists, and Lu Dort chipped in a dozen points, including three threes, and four rebounds.</p><h2><b>Thunder stat proves its 24-1 dominance this season</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Thunders-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander-Chet-Holmgren.jpg"><figcaption>Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The defending <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/oklahoma-city-thunder/thunder-news-bonkers-stat-shows-how-dominant-24-1-start-been">champion Thunder is racking up astonishing stats</a> that reflect their dominating start to the 2025-26 campaign, including how long it’s held a 20-point lead against various opponents. Compared with how often the Thunder has trailed this season, the ratio is eye-popping, which ESPN’s Tim Bontemps illustrated.</p><p>“The Oklahoma City Thunder have led by at least 20 points for 264 minutes and 17 seconds this season. They have trailed for 249 minutes and 53 seconds. Not bad,” Bontemps said, per ESPN’s Matt Williams.</p><p>The Thunder will face the Spurs in the NBA Cup semifinals on Saturday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’

Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama ‘likely’ to make injury return in NBA Cup vs. Thunder

Brian Windhorst already reserved Thunder-NBA Finals dinner and it’s absurdly serious

NBA rumors: Thunder making Giannis Antetokounmpo trade is a ‘2K scenario’ that will not happen

Why Thunder’s dominance has Stephen A. Smith ‘worried about the NBA’

Thunder’s Jalen Williams reflects on crazy winning streak with flashback to 73-point loss

• Thunder forward Chet Holmgren’s surprising take on Grayson Allen’s Flagrant-2 foul

• Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams giddy over reporter’s new AT&T commercial with SGA

• Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’

• Thunder’s Jalen Williams doesn’t want to ‘blow up’ Grayson Allen’s latest dirty incident

• Why Thunder’s Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on 16-game win streak

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Why Thunder’s Chet Holmgren is excited to face Victor Wembanyama, Spurs in NBA Cup

Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunter’s mentality’

Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama ‘likely’ to make injury return in NBA Cup vs. Thunder

Brian Windhorst already reserved Thunder-NBA Finals dinner and it’s absurdly serious

NBA rumors: Thunder making Giannis Antetokounmpo trade is a ‘2K scenario’ that will not happen

Why Thunder’s dominance has Stephen A. Smith ‘worried about the NBA’

Thunder’s Jalen Williams reflects on crazy winning streak with flashback to 73-point loss

• Thunder forward Chet Holmgren’s surprising take on Grayson Allen’s Flagrant-2 foul

• Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams giddy over reporter’s new AT&T commercial with SGA

• Steve Nash knows his Michael Jordan comparison for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is ‘sacrilegious’

• Thunder’s Jalen Williams doesn’t want to ‘blow up’ Grayson Allen’s latest dirty incident

• Why Thunder’s Mark Daigneault isn’t focused on 16-game win streak

Oklahoma City
Thunder NEWS