OKC Thunder Grab Two Surprising Wins over East Standouts

Oklahoma City has grabbed two of its biggest wins of the season in the last few days.

Feb 12, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace (22) and guard Alex Caruso (9) high five after a play against the Milwaukee Bucks during the first half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, Stephen A. Smith took to First Take to offer up his thoughts on the Oklahoma City Thunder, sans MVP front-runner Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

“Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I don’t have Oklahoma City as a top-eight team,” Smith said amid a ranking of the league’s best teams.

"Without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, I don't have Oklahoma City as a top 8 team.”

—@stephenasmith on the Thunder's outlook without SGA 👀 pic.twitter.com/zwtoYdsBje

— First Take (@FirstTake) February 24, 2026

While it’s not exactly a novel idea that the lack of a gravitational player in SGA would lessen the Thunder, the timing of Smith’s remarks were odd given the Thunder’s beatdown of the Cavaliers. And on Tuesday, Oklahoma City doubled down with a victory over a spry Raptors squad.

Coming into the week, many thought a 2-2 record against teams such as the Cavaliers, Raptors, Pistons and Mavericks would be seen as a win. Gilgeous-Alexander and up-and-coming guard Ajay Mitchell were ruled out for one more week with respective abdominal strains, and All-NBA hybrid Jalen Williams two more weeks due to a reaggravated hamstring.

Through two of those very games, Oklahoma City now stands at 2-0, and is in great position to leave with a win against Dallas considering they’ve positioned themselves toward the 2026 draft.

Oklahoma City beat Cleveland with a white-hot start, and down-to-the-wire play featuring impact from All-Star Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe, the last two being on career stretches.

The Thunder’s game against Toronto was all over the place, featuring a 10-point deficit, a 20-point lead, and eventual late-game shot-making from Wallace and Luguentz Dort that would seal the win.

Oklahoma City isn’t likely to be so lucky against the East-best Pistons, who are already one of the top teams in the NBA and hungry to win following a loss to the Spurs. But this Thunder squad has also proven they can hang with the league’s best, regardless of what Stephen A. Smith says.

Even leaving the week 3-1 would be a massive win for the Thunder, given San Antonio is hot on their heels for the No. 1 seed in the West, which is sure to have enourmous postseason implications. There are effectively three true contenders in the conference right now in OKC, San Antonio and Denver, with the second and third seeds likely to face off in the second round, should the standings hold.

The Thunder presently have a three-game lead over the Spurs, with the hardest remaining schedule in the NBA the rest of the way. Wins over the Cavaliers and Raptors were obviously vital to hanging onto that.

Regardless of how the Thunder got them, the last two wins, against standouts teams in the East no less, have been massively impressive.