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, extending the Thunder's winning streak to 16, a reporter asked Williams if stacking up blowout wins ever become mundane for the defending champions.
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 seemingly stayed with him after all these years.
“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.
“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.”
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.
“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.”
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…
We lost by 70. I think a lot of guys have that in the back of their mind” pic.twitter.com/1EhMebb8tF
— Josue Pavón (@Joe_Sway) December 11, 2025
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.
Why Mark Daigneault isn't focused on Thunder's winning streak
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault reacted to his team's 16-game winning streak by revealing what's been critical in keeping it going.
“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.
“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.
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.
