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Thunder not at the finish line yet, warns Gilgeous-Alexander

14h59 CEST

09/04/2026

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander warned his Oklahoma City Thunder teammates against complacency as he reiterated there is a long way to go for them to achieve their goals.

The Thunder clinched the NBA's best record, and the Western Conference's number one seed for the playoffs, by beating the Los Angeles Clippers 128-110.

OKC have now earned the West's number one seed in three straight seasons. They are just the sixth team with a three-season streak as a top seed in the playoffs since 1983-84, joining the Boston Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Chicago Bulls, the Los Angeles Lakers and the Golden State Warriors.

The reigning NBA champions have won 132 regular-season games since the start of the 2024-25 campaign.

But MVP Gilgeous-Alexander knows they are not done just yet.

"It's impressive," said reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

"Obviously, none of it means anything if you don't win in the end, and you know that. But teams that win in the end have some of the same characteristics and traits and check off the same boxes.

"So checking off those boxes is kind of just like knowing we're headed in the right direction. Obviously, we're far from the finish line of where we want to go, but like I said, it lets us know we're heading right there."

Only four teams have previously won back-to-back championships while also boasting the league's best record. The Thunder are aiming to grow that list to five.

"It's a great accomplishment," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

"No two seasons are the same, and this season was a lot of different experiences. We obviously started really hot and then dealt with a lot of missed games, especially in the middle of the season.

"We felt like two months we were enduring that. And this team, when you win the championship, that kind of hangs over you as a team the next year. Meaning everybody, including ourselves, you judge yourself against that.

"It's incredibly hard to be present in the next regular season. I learned so much from this team because of their ability to come in every day and just embrace the day and the challenge that we had that day and not look backwards, not look forwards and just attack every challenge together with a level of zest and joy is really impressive. It's why I think we had the season we did."

The Thunder face the Denver Nuggets next before rounding off their regular-season against the Phoenix Suns.

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