The Thunder champions crush the competition and lead the NBA Cup quarterfinals | Basketball | Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder, current NBA champions, are a roller that threatens to break the era of equality in the American league. After seven seasons with seven different champions, an unprecedented record in 80 years of competition, the team led by reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has barely shown any cracks at the start of the new season. Absolute leaders from the beginning, SGA and company have equaled the second best historical start in a regular season with a balance of 19 wins and only one loss, only surpassed by the Golden State Warriors who in 2016 finished with the best record in the league (73-9) but then were left without a ring in the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In the past, the Knicks (1969-70) and the Rockets (1993-94) did manage to elevate their great start to a championship season, but the Blazers (1990-91) failed. The Thunder are the fourth team to reach 19 wins in 20 games to start the year, and all the numbers confirm that they will once again be the rival to beat once again. They currently have the best active winning streak, 11, after their 123-119 home victory over the Suns. They also boast the best point differential in history with respect to their rivals: +15.9 points average difference in their victories, improving their record (+12.9) from the previous year.

They have achieved all this without counting until now on guard Jalen Williams, the second All Star on the squad and Gilgeous-Alexander’s main dance partner. In his return after having wrist surgery, he scored 11 points and distributed eight assists in 29 minutes of play. The victory, of course, was led by Shai with 37 points and eight basket passes. Williams, 24, averaged 21.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.1 assists last season, and was one of the key pieces of the group coached by Mark Daigneault in both offense and defense. Its greatest asset is that the squad has barely changed, and the gears remain well-oiled. So far this year, Oklahoma City has once again been impenetrable – they concede 106.3 points, less than anyone – and impressive in attack – they score 122.2 points, third best record.

OKC has entered the quarterfinals of the third edition of the NBA Cup with a clean record (4-0) and as leaders. They will meet Phoenix again in the first one-game elimination round on December 10, where a Lakers-Spurs will also feature to decide the semifinalists of the Western Conference. One day before, the Eastern Conference of the Magic-Heat that will be played in Orlando and the Raptors-Knicks that will be played in Toronto will take place.

The new format promoted by the NBA has had an irregular follow-up since its conception. The league continues to modify the Cup calendar to avoid days without matches, and this will be the last year, for now, in which the four semifinalists meet in Las Vegas, neutral territory where the title is disputed. In the future, it is likely that only the grand final will be held in Nevada City. In order not to reduce the number of matches and encourage competitiveness, the four group stage matches, the quarterfinals and the semifinals count towards the teams’ balances in the league standings. Only the finalists play one more match at the end of the course.

The Thunder already reached the final of the tournament last year, where they fell at the hands of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers were the first champions of the format in 2023 thanks to the push of LeBron James. Even so, the European cup tradition that inspired commissioner Adam Silver to create his own mid-season trophy in the NBA still does not catch on in the United States. The courts painted in bright colors to emphasize the importance of the cup games in front of the fans have given stability problems to the players, and the Lakers, for example, withdrew theirs last night against the Mavs due to complaints from their players. The eliminated teams also do not regret missing a tournament that still needs to accumulate prestige, and the fans of those who reach Las Vegas hardly travel to cheer on their team ‘in situ’, generating a cold atmosphere in the pavilion when there is a title at stake.

For the 2025 edition, the semifinals are scheduled for Saturday, December 13 and the grand final will be held on Tuesday the 16th, early Wednesday the 17th in Spain (2:30 a.m.). All NBA Cup matches this season are offered by the Amazon Prime platform.