Thunder tie 2015-16 Warriors with 24-1 start after 138-89 rout of Suns
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Oklahoma City, Okla. — The Oklahoma City Thunder rolled past the Phoenix Suns 138-89 on Wednesday night in an NBA Cup quarterfinal at Paycom Center, moving to 24-1 and matching the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the best 25-game opening in league history.
The 49-point margin was the largest defeat ever suffered by Phoenix and the biggest blowout of the current NBA season. It also extended Oklahoma City’s winning streak to 16, a new franchise record.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points in 27 minutes and watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench after head coach Mark Daigneault pulled all starters with 3:32 left in the third period, when the Thunder led by 41. The advantage ballooned to 53 in the final quarter.
Rookie center Chet Holmgren added 24 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, while forward Jalen Williams highlighted the team’s motivation by recalling a 73-point loss to Memphis on Dec. 2, 2021. “Winning is never boring,” Williams said. “You can’t get bored with the process.”
Oklahoma City has outscored opponents by an average of 17.4 points this season, well ahead of last year’s single-season record plus-12.9 differential. Seventeen of the club’s 24 victories have been by double digits.
According to ESPN Research, the Thunder are 72-10 over their last 82 regular-season games, posting a cumulative plus-1,189 point differential—the highest over any 82-game span in NBA history.
Daigneault downplayed talk of chasing the Warriors’ 73-win record. “You’ve got to play the next possession, get better the next day, win the next quarter,” he said. “We still have a lot of improvement to make.”
The coach expressed confidence the roster will avoid complacency, noting that core players Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams and Holmgren remain early in their prime years. Holmgren credited the team’s “standard,” mutual respect and commitment to growth for sustaining focus during the dominant run.
Source: ESPN
