Thunder ring in the new season reminding everyone why they are the champions Kelly Iko October 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM 0 OKLAHOMA CITY — In the waning seconds of a grueling doubleovertime showdown Tuesday night under the roof of a deafening Paycom Center, Thunder star guard Shai GilgeousAlexander found...
- - Thunder ring in the new season reminding everyone why they are the champions
Kelly Iko October 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
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OKLAHOMA CITY — In the waning seconds of a grueling double-overtime showdown Tuesday night under the roof of a deafening Paycom Center, Thunder star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander found himself in a familiar dance with an unfamiliar partner.
The choreography, a patient, drowsy lullaby of a crossover, is one that has put a multitude of opponents to sleep in recent memory. And by the time Kevin Durant realized his grave mistake with 2.3 seconds remaining, Gilgeous-Alexander had already made him pay. It was a final matchup fitting of the basketball gods, Thunder past against Thunder present. But Gilgeous-Alexander, who had amassed 24 of his 35 points in the fourth quarter and overtime, had one more trick up his sleeve, baiting Durant into picking up his sixth foul while Gilgeous-Alexander sealed shut the door at the free-throw line. Championship basketball from champions.
Dancing With The Stars airs on Tuesday nights.Durant fouls SGA with 2.3 seconds left. OKC goes up by one after free throws. pic.twitter.com/snzbJjY5Ii
— Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg) October 22, 2025
"It's a great starting point for us," Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said following the 125-124 win. "I thought [Houston] dictated the tempo of the game early and we were able to get pressure in the second half. We had to weather the storm and handle situations down the stretch the right way."
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On an emotional, uplifting night when the Thunder were celebrated for a season of excellence and received their title rings, the champions would not have been faulted for taking their foot off the gas for an evening. The Thunder were without All-NBA guard Jalen Williams, Gilgeous-Alexander's running mate, as he continues to recover from a right wrist surgery. They were also dominated on the glass (51 to 39), woeful from behind the arc (13-of-52), never led by more than six points and allowed Alperen Şengün to put together a monster 39-point, 11-rebound, 7-assist performance. All of the necessary symptoms of an upset.
But Gilgeous-Alexander is wired differently. Daigneault is wired differently. The championship DNA that flows through each and every member of the Thunder pulsated profusely Tuesday night, reminding the rest of the league — and in a way, themselves — that all roads to success still lead through them, banged up or not.
"Did enough to win," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "The mistakes always hurt more in a loss, so we have to be humble enough to realize we need to get better, even though we still won. It was ugly tonight. But I'd rather be ugly in a win than a loss, so we'll take it."
Last season, Daigneault established non-negotiable tenants of his scheme, regardless of whether shots fell or not: communication, defense and effort. Oklahoma City held the No. 1-ranked defense in both the regular season and the playoffs, a feat achievable only with a collective, concerted effort to cause chaos. Against the Rockets, the Thunder showed a willingness to pressure all the way up the floor, deploying players like Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso as irritants, forcing labored dribbles from Amen Thompson and Şengün, and freeing up Lu Dort to latch himself onto Durant at the top of the key. Their shapeshifting zone remained fluid as ever, causing confusion on Houston's part in key moments. The result was a Rockets unit that struggled to generate consistent offensive rhythm, coughing up the ball 24 times, missing 28 of their 39 3-point attempts and looking the part of a team trying to figure things out on the fly.
"I thought we got to [pressuring] more late in the game," Daigneault said. "Early, we were conceding that. Some of that is the way we picked up Thompson, you can pick him up lower. But it's also Cason Wallace [defending] and that's on us — we were lowering the pickup points in the second half and I just said [to Wallace], 'Forget that, do your thing,' and it was better for us. Got us back into our stuff."
And in true Thunder fashion, the game was more than just Gilgeous-Alexander's heroics. Starting forward Chet Holmgren found soft spots in Houston's zone looks and exploited its general lack of attention to him, finishing the game with 28 points on tidy 11-of-17 shooting. Wallace, in addition to his defensive versatility, spaced the floor by adding three triples to go along with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals.
Opening Night wasn't aesthetically pleasing by any means — the Thunder fouled 27 times, with both Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein being disqualified. But at the same time, it served as a cautionary tale for teams bold enough to challenge the throne. Oklahoma City will bend you into submission over 48 minutes, either offensively, defensively or, in most cases, both. They are the champions for a reason, having put together one of the most impressive postseason runs in recent history — with no apparent signs of slowing down. The Rockets are an exciting team that has a lot to be proud of, putting up a valiant effort in Durant's debut. But moral victories don't show up in the standings. Wins matter in this league and the Thunder, no matter how improbable, pulled another one out of their hats.
"We need to get better," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "If we want to do what we just did again, we're gonna have to be a better team in a few months. But I have full belief and confidence that we will be. We'll use tonight as a learning experience, as we always have."
Source: "AOL Sports"
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