The Oklahoma City Thunder are playing like a team determined to prove last season’s championship run was only the beginning. After a 114–100 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, the Thunder improved to 10–1, maintaining the best record in the NBA behind the relentless leadership of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The reigning MVP and Finals MVP has shown no signs of a championship hangover, averaging 33.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 6.0 assists through 11 games. But for Gilgeous-Alexander, the motivation driving Oklahoma City’s hot start isn’t about repeating success, but rather about redefining it.
“Honestly speaking, I didn’t like the way we won, if that makes sense,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I didn’t think we won an NBA championship playing our best basketball. And that was the first time we’d been that far in the playoffs, so it was a learning experience for us. But it takes another level of focus, discipline, assertiveness, aggression, to be who we were in the regular season and do that throughout the postseason.”
Oklahoma City’s title defense has looked even more convincing than its breakthrough year. A season ago, the Thunder won 68 games and capped off their rise with a seven-game Finals victory over Indiana. But as Gilgeous-Alexander explained, he wasn’t satisfied with how they got there.
“I think we were definitely more dominant in the regular season than the postseason,” he said. “And for me, as well as a player, I don’t think I was as good in the postseason as I was in the regular season. Now, it naturally happens when you play a team seven times in a row and they get to scout you. But I feel like I could have been better, so I try to control that. And that mentality, I guess, just trickles over to the team stuff.”
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Head coach Mark Daigneault echoed that mindset entering the season, saying the team approached training camp as if it had “lost Game 7 in Denver.” That message has been reflected on both ends of the floor — the Thunder currently lead the NBA in defensive rating (104.5) while boasting the league’s seventh-ranked offense.
In Sunday’s win over Memphis, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, including nine straight in the fourth quarter to seal the victory. Chet Holmgren and Ajay Mitchell each added 21 points, while Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
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Oklahoma City has now won 14 straight games against the Grizzlies, continuing a dominance that stretches back to last year’s playoff sweep. With second-leading scorer Jalen Williams still sidelined, the Thunder’s ability to win comfortably speaks to the depth and discipline that have come to define them early in the season.
For Gilgeous-Alexander, the focus is clear: playing like a team that’s still hungry, not one satisfied by a single championship.
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