Thanks in large part due to the play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder (7-0) remain the last team to remain undefeated to begin the 2025-26 season. (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY – The last team standing last season is the last team to remain undefeated this season.
So much for that championship hangover.
Jalen Williams hasn’t played yet, Chet Holmgren is dealing with a balky back, Lu Dort just missed a game because of illness … and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder are still just rolling along, off to a 7-0 start despite using four different starting lineups in those seven games.
“We have a DNA,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder’s reigning NBA MVP, NBA Finals MVP and scoring champion. “We have an identity. We understand how to play basketball. We understand how to win. Win games, big moments and it’s done with all five guys on the court on both ends and that’s engraved in us. That’s something that is almost a habit now and every night we try to implement that.”
The Thunder remain unbeaten with a 7-0 start
The Thunder remain the league’s only unbeaten team after defeating the Pelicans, tying their franchise record with a 7-0 start.
Such was the case last year, when the Thunder went 68-14 and won the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed by 16 games. Put that into some perspective: Oklahoma City could have ended the season on an 18-game losing streak and it still would have won the No. 1 seed at 53-29, or one game better than Houston’s 52-30.
Add the 16 playoff wins from last season and the 7-0 start this season, and Oklahoma City is 94-22 since October 2024. That’s 20 wins or so more than any other team in that span, and all by an average of about 12 points per game.
