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 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander discussed the Thunder's hunter mentality as defending champions this season, which hasn't faltered amid a near-perfect start through 2025-26's first 25 games.
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 why he's excited to take on Wembanyama and the Spurs.
“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.”
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.
“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.”
The Spurs (17-7) are now tied with the Lakers for the fourth-best record in the Western Conference.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reveals NBA Cup ‘hunters mentality'
The Thunder extended its winning streak to 16 straight in Wednesday's 138-89 NBA Cup quarterfinal victory against the Suns. Ahead of facing the Suprs, Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander discussed his team's approach this season and how it's led to the league's best 24-1 record.
“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.
“If we didn't get better tonight, then we wasted an opportunity. That's kind of how we see it.”
