Why There's Still Optimism Surrounding OKC Thunder

Oklahoma City is in uncharted territory. For the first time since 2021, the Thunder lost back-to-back games by 15+ points, and for the first time this season Oklahoma suffered its first back-to-back loss in general. The more worrisome narrative, though, is surrounding OKC's performance against the Western Conference's top teams, and specfically the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder are now 0-3 against the Spurs this season, and all three losses came in a very short span. San Antonio simply has Oklahoma City's number right now, and it has caused plenty of concern within the fanbase. Teams around the league have seen the Thunder's weaknesses, and many NBA fans no longer see this team as anywhere near invincible. OKC will have a chance to prove people wrong once again.

While there's certainly cause for concern regarding the Thunder's play over the last few weeks, there's still even more optimism surrounding the future outlook. Not all hope is lost for the Thunder, and it won't take much for them to get back on track. This is still the same team that won the NBA Finals and was on a historic pace until two weeks ago.

ESPN highlighted a reason for each Christmas Day participant to remain optimistic moving forward, and Oklahoma City's puts the season into perspective.

"Oklahoma City is allowing 9.9 fewer points per 100 possessions than the league average this season, according to Basketball Reference," Zach Kram wrote. "The previous record, going back to 1973-74 (the first year with recorded defensive ratings), is from the 2003-04 Spurs, at 8.8 points below average.

"A season after the Thunder won the title largely because they boasted the NBA's best defense, that unit has reached a historically unprecedented level in 2025-26."

If Oklahoma City is going to make a run at a second straight title, the team's defense will lead them once again. This season, that defense has been elite, but has faltered over the last few weeks. There's certainly reason to believe and remain optimistic that this unit will get back on track and dominate down the stretch, though.

The Thunder's net rating is still far and away the league's best at 13.6, though the team's strength of schedule is in question. Another reason for optimism, though, is that they'll have a chance to put that narrative to rest coming up. Oklahoma City knows how good they are as a team, and look forward to elite competition. According to ESPN, 21 of their last 57 games will come against Top 6 teams in the West, Detroit, or New York. It's a perfect opportunity.

Oklahoma City's players have mentioned it recently, but chemistry and cohesion will be a key piece to this team's success. Now fully healthy, the next few weeks will allow the rotation to gel. They're 26-5 with plenty of inconsistency in the lineup over the first few months of the season, that's reason enough to stay optimistic. Ajay Mitchell's return should be huge for this team.

As Mark Daigneault mentioned on Saturday, Oklahoma City's offensive process was solid on Christmas Day and the open looks they generated were great. The shots just didn't fall, and they'll have to trust the process and be patient moving forward. There's a clear path to improvement moving forward.