All the talk is about 73 wins. But in order for the Oklahoma City Thunder to break this legendary record, they may need to capture another one — 33.
This was the first consecutive win for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1971-72 season. As you can imagine, this is the longest winning streak in NBA history. When the Thunder were 24-1, it became a louder talking point that we were smaller than Isaiah Joe.
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But so far, the Thunder have won 16 consecutive games. This is a Thunder record. Last year, they won the NBA championship with a historic record of 68 wins and 14 losses, going 15 consecutive games without a win.
The second time in December in Las Vegas, the Thunder hope to complete another bucket list item – the NBA Cup. Last year, they fell just short of that feat when they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2024 NBA Cup Finals. That leaves just four teams, who will face the San Antonio Spurs in the semifinals.
As Shai Gilgeous-Alexander prepared for it, he was asked about the NBA’s second-highest record. Interestingly, he knew nothing about it. So much so that he had to ask reporters the truth.
“Wow, there’s still a lot of games to win. Yeah, we’re nowhere near that – like you said, I don’t even know, so it doesn’t even cross my mind,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “But hopefully we can get there. That’s the goal.”
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Pretty good NBA Cup media day. Gilgeous-Alexander explicitly acknowledged for the first time the dragons the Thunder are chasing. It’s one thing to have outsiders talking about it. But for the reigning MVP, this is on another level.
We’ll see if they can get to that point. Under this assumption, the Thunder could tie the Lakers when they visit the Houston Rockets on Thursday, January 15th. They can break the record on Saturday, January 17th against the Miami Heat.
Interestingly, winning the 2025 NBA Cup does not count toward that record. As the Thunder learned that season, their loss to the Bucks was invisible in the record books. Such was their 29-1 record against Eastern Conference teams last year, an NBA record.
This article originally appeared in OKC Thunder Wire: Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander chasing 71-72 Lakers’ 33rd straight win?
