Thunder Are Entering '95 Bulls & 73-Win Warriors Territory...When Will They Lose Next?
Multiple sources tell me the Oklahoma City Thunder will, in fact, lose again.
I'm not sure I believe them.
Oklahoma City is sitting at 24-1 after its NBA Cup quarterfinal thumping of the Phoenix Suns. It has not lost in five weeks—which is, like, two or three Giannis Antetokounmpo soft-launch trade demands ago.
OKC is a virtual lock to win 70-plus games, if not break the league's single-season mark of 73 victories, set by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. In fact, people may not even remember the 72-win Chicago Bulls in '96 by the end of this Thunder season.
Laugh if you must. OKC is that dominant. The Thunder have outscored opponents during these opening 25 games by a total of 437 points—the largest differential in NBA history. The distance between them and the second-place 2007-08 Boston Celtics (plus-388) is 90 points. That is basically equal to the distance between those second-place Celtics and the 38th place...1995-96 Bulls (plus-256).
All of which leaves yours truly dreading the mission I'm about to undertake: figuring out when, if at all, the Thunder will lose again.
Saturday Dec. 13?
1 of 11
Matchup: vs. Los Angeles Lakers — or — San Antonio Spurs
It doesn't matter whether Victor Wembanyama makes his first appearance since Nov. 14, or if Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves become the first NBA trio to drop 50 pieces in the same game.
The Thunder aren't losing in Las Vegas on Saturday, Dec. 13.
Talking heads once upon a time might've tried to weave "What if the lights are too bright?" drivel into the conversation. That holds zero weight when Oklahoma City is working off a championship. And also when it plays with the type of jovial ruthlessness that suggests it'll revel in proving to the 2023-24 Lakers and 2024-25 Milwaukee Bucks that you can win the NBA Cup without then flaming out in the playoffs.
Verdict: OKC advances to the NBA Cup Final
Monday, Dec. 15?
2 of 11
Matchup: vs. New York Knicks — or — Orlando Magic
The NBA Cup Final doesn't count toward the standings. But it counts in our hearts.
Either way, the Thunder aren't losing the Vegas finale.
Neither the Orlando Magic nor the New York Knicks are on their level. Orlando will be without Franz Wagner, and with a version of Jalen Suggs who may be playing on 1.5 legs. New York does not have anyone other than Jalen Brunson who can dribble the ball against Oklahoma City's full-court pressure.
Congratulations to the Thunder on their second banner in seven months.
Verdict: OKC wins the NBA Cup
Wednesday, Dec. 17?
3 of 11
Matchup: vs. LA Clippers
This has all the makings of a trap game. The Thunder will have just one day of rest between bagging the NBA Cup and indulging the required post-Cup festivities in Sin City. They could be sluggish. Head coach Mark Daigneault could rest his primaries.
Let's agree not to care—and only partially because ending this exercise now would be boring.
It doesn't matter whether the Thunder start Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort or Ousmane Dieng and Brooks Barnhizer. The 2025-26 Los Angeles Clippers are not a real basketball team. They will wilt under the weight of Oklahoma City's athleticism, and then immediately Google the definition of athleticism.
We also must not discount the draft-lottery implications. The Thunder control this year's Clippers pick. Beating them increases the value of that selection.
Executive vice president Sam Presti will give an impassioned pregame speech to Oklahoma City on the merits of cost-controlled prospects prolonging the life of this exact core if he believes the team needs more motivation—which it won't, because it never does.
Verdict: Another W for OKC
Friday, Dec. 19?
4 of 11
Matchup: @ Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves are the consummate "plays up to the level of their opponent" team. This would be terrible news for the Thunder if they didn't have the defensive archetypes necessary to neutralize both Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle and still have an All-Defense candidate or two left to spare.
Even if one of Minny's offensive stars breaks through, it will not mean much. The Timberwolves are addicted to turnovers. Oklahoma City has a doctorate in converting those turnovers into points. There is a chance Rudy Gobert's hands are the sixth and seventh, respectively, most valuable Thunder assets in this one.
Verdict: OKC's winning streak keeps going
Monday, Dec. 22?
5 of 11
Matchup: : vs. Memphis Grizzlies
LOL, nah.
Verdict: Let's move on
Tuesday, Dec. 23
6 of 11
Matchup: @ San Antonio Spurs
OK, now we're talking.
Victor Wembanyama should be in the lineup for this one. Injury overlords willing, we will see the full scope of the Spurs' attack with their resident extraterrestrial alongside Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle and De'Aaron Fox. This foursome has logged exactly—[divide by eleventy...carry the two...round up to the nearest whole number]—zero minutes together all season.
That lack of familiarity works against the Spurs. They will still be working through (this potentially) glorious full-strength dynamic. The Thunder are not a team you beat in beta mode.
Granted, this is the second end of a back-to-back. Maybe Oklahoma City gives a few guys the night off. Then again, after likely beating the Memphis Grizzlies by a kajillion 23 hours earlier, maybe not.
Verdict: The winning continues
Thursday, Dec. 25?
7 of 11
Matchup: vs. San Antonio Spurs?
Home-and-home sets make me nervous. I'm pretty sure there's a rule somewhere that stipulates the same team, no matter how good they are, won't win both legs of the mini-series.
Fortunately for the Thunder, they are a collective contradiction. And unfortunately for the Spurs, this is a Christmas Day showcase. Oklahoma City will not have any trouble getting up for it. This group never misses a chance to suffocate national-TV audiences with its utter dominance.
Oh, the Thunder are hosting this game to boot. If they haven't yet lost at Paycom Center, where they are beating teams by an average of 19.4 points, they won't want to concede their first one on Christmas Day.
Verdict: All OKC does is win. Still.
Sunday, December 28?
8 of 11
Matchup: vs. Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are proving pleasantly frisky. Tyrese Maxey is tracking toward All-NBA honors. VJ Edgecombe competes on defense. Quentin Grimes is cooking off the bench. Andre Drummond is taking and making...threes.
Still, Philly's injury reports are often longer than CVS receipts. So many of its core lineups are small. Only one NBA team can consistently win games leaning exclusively on non-wings and non-bigs, and it isn't the Sixers. (It's the Thunder.)
It isn't clear whether Joel Embiid and Paul George suiting up for this game would help or hurt Philly. Subjecting either of them to Oklahoma City's full-floor freneticism is mean.
Failing that, we should all be worried about the wheels falling off of the Sixers' lifeline: Tyrese Maxey. Head coach Nick Nurse is playing him enough for 1.75 Tom Thibodeaus.
Verdict: Another OKC win in the books
Sunday, Dec. 29?
9 of 11
Matchup: vs Atlanta Hawks
The second end of back-to-backs is a danger zone for every team, including the Thunder. Their lone loss this season, against the Portland Trail Blazers, came on the second leg of one.
Coincidence?
To be honest, who the hell knows? (Also: They were without Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren and Lu Dort.) Oklahoma City has shown it can annihilate opponents on the second end of a back-to-back. Just ask the Lakers.
Anyway, playing a back-to-back against consecutive Eastern Conference teams is the equivalent of getting, approximately, one day's rest. The Atlanta Hawks' offense already looked like doo-doo, at home, against the Thunder earlier this year. And while they didn't have Jalen Johnson for that one, their performance against top-10 defenses this season has been decidedly mid.
Wednesday, Dec. 31?
10 of 11
Matchup: vs. Portland Trail Blazers
Oklahoma City has already avenged its Nov. 5 loss to Portland on two separate occasions. And it will be invested in doing so a third time.
Yes, the Thunder are better than the Blazers. But this isn't just about talent. It's about what could have been.
As this exercise estimates, Oklahoma City would still be unbeaten into 2026 if not for that 121-119 shorthanded letdown in Portland.
That being the only loss on the Thunder's ledger will eat at them, grating at the very fabric of their existence, nudging them toward the brink of existential crisis. They will have no choice other than to take out their frustration on the Blazers. Again.
And in the event I'm overdramatizing how much Oklahoma City cares about a loss in early November...we'll all have to live with the team winning, simply, because it's clearly the better team.
Verdict: OKC's streak keeps on keeping on
Friday, January 2?
11 of 11
Matchup: @ Golden State Warriors
Oklahoma City has faced little trouble this season dispatching the Warriors on two previous occasions, only one of which saw Golden State soldier on without Stephen Curry. The third meeting between these two squads could follow the same script.
However!
The average age of the Thunder's roster is "Definitely going clubbing on the West Coast after beating the Blazers in OKC on New Year's Eve." Youth has a way of recovering quickly, but day-after-New-Year's inertia comes for everyone.
To be fair, the Warriors are playing their own Dec. 31 tilt on the road. But that's against the Charlotte Hornets, a team you don't always realize you just played. Golden State is also veteran enough that only, like, one-third of the roster will be attending Pat Spencer's Parks and Recreation-themed dive bar New Year's extravaganza.
Verdict: This will be OKC's second loss of the season. I think. Maybe.
Dan Favale is a National NBA Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky (@danfavale), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, co-hosted by Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes.
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