Following a historic 24-1 start to the 2025-26 campaign, the OKC Thunder have gone a middling 6-6 over their last 12 games. Their latest outing saw them get pummeled by the cellar-dwelling Charlotte Hornets by a final score of 124-97 and endure just their second losing streak of the season.
Once believed to be a shoo-in to eclipse the Golden State Warriors' 73-win mark for the best record ever registered in a single regular season, now at 30-7 on the year, Oklahoma City's margin for error is just two more losses to set the record and three to tie it.
Though this recent skid and subsequent shrinking of odds to make win-loss history may make some fans less excited about the Thunder's title follow-up tour, in an ironic way, taking the innate pressures that come with chasing such a feat off the table may actually help them in their pursuit of a second consecutive title run.
Thunder should focus on their craft rather than chasing 74 wins
Though Shai Gilgeous-Alexander may have gone on record last month, stating that chasing the wins record "absolutely" matters to him and this team, ultimately he acknowledged that, at the end of the day, his main priority is to win the 2026 NBA Championship.
Of course, some, such as ESPN's Richard Jefferson, have been outspoken about how pursuing 74 wins could negatively effect Oklahoma City's chase of a repeat, with the former player and current analyst saying that "guys will play through a little bit more bumps and bruises and come back a little bit sooner" to achieve such a feat, which, in theory, could lead to more serious consequences.
Instead of trying to course correct amid their current slump so they can keep the hopes of surpassing the 2016 Warriors alive, the Thunder should be more interested in heeding coach Mark Daigneault's advice shared following Monday's blowout loss to Charlotte, where he said "you really can get better and stronger" when dealing with and learning from adversity.
"We've gained strength by taking those punches at other points in the season, and we've got to gain strength from how we respond to this," Daigneault said.
Following their previous outing against Phoenix, one that also ended in a Thunder loss, star guard Devin Booker revealed how the Suns, as well as the rest of the league, view OKC as "everybody's target," and that they're "who you want to match yourself up against."
Getting an opponent's best efforts generally comes with the territory of not only winning a title, but also being the number one seed in the entire association.
In a way, receiving such treatment this early in the year could be seen as a positive, as it gives the Thunder 45 more games to get acclimated to such pressures before the playoffs, a time when every team is looking to give their all.
Hitting a rough patch in early January is much more ideal than coming across one in late March, and Oklahoma City must remember this as they, as coach Daigneault put it, "try to react but not overreact" and "learn the lessons" that come from these recent hardships.