All-Star Jalen Williams has yet to play this season due to a wrist injury, but his inactive status has not slowed down the Oklahoma City Thunder. The reigning NBA champions have been invincible during the early portion of the 2025-26 campaign. They made history in Tuesday night's 126-107 win versus the Los Angeles Clippers.
OKC overcame an early flurry by James Harden and trailed 33-23 after the first quarter, but the Finals and regular season MVP dazzled once again. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points for the fourth consecutive contest, Isaiah Hartenstein recorded four steals, Chet Holmgren posted three blocks, and the Thunder as a whole shot 52.3 percent from the field and forced 19 turnovers in the Intuit Dome.
The result is an 8-0 start, which is the franchise's best mark since it moved to Oklahoma City in 2008, per StatMuse. Again, this is all happening without who many consider to be the second-best player on the squad. Neither Harden's 25-point performance nor the Clippers' 50 bench points were enough to fend off the supremely skilled and tenacious Thunder.
Amid all the talk about parity during the NBA's second-apron era, a juggernaut is wreaking havoc all throughout the country. Although it is too early to make grand prognostications, OKC is positioned to do what no other team has done since 2018: repeat as champions.
Gilgeous-Alexander is consistently excellent and Mark Daigneault's group oozes chemistry. The Thunder may just be an anomaly, or they could serve as the blueprint for how to build a powerhouse without exuding big-market glamour. This team will do its best to ensure that a historic start gives rise to another momentous conclusion.
Oklahoma City will defend its unblemished record against the Portland Trail Blazers (4-3) in the Moda Center on Wednesday.
