OKC Thunder's NBA Cup Hopes Still Alive Despite Loss to Clippers

The Thunder dropped a group play game for the first time since 2024, but they haven't lost their NBA Cup dreams yet.

Nov 13, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) reacts to a play during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Oklahoma City couldn’t come through late in its second NBA Cup game, but its hopes of getting to the knockout round are still alive. 

On Friday night, the Thunder fell to the LA Clippers 113-112 after allowing a 7-0 run from LA in the final minutes. Now sitting on a three-game losing streak and an 8-5 record, the Thunder aren’t in the position they were hoping or expecting to be in when they embarked on this four-game West Coast road trip. 

While every game on the trip counts the same in the standings, Friday night’s game was still a bit costlier because it was an NBA Cup battle. After the Thunder dominated the Memphis Grizzlies last week in their NBA Cup opener, they were unable to come through and improve to 2-0 this time around. 

While dropping a game in the cup can be costly, this one might not end up hurting too much for Oklahoma City. From here, the Thunder will almost certainly need to win out to make it to the knockout stage. 

Thanks to their blowout win in Memphis, the Thunder are already sitting on a point differential of +30. If Oklahoma City were to win out in group play, which would mean earning home wins against the New Orleans Pelicans and Minnesota Timberwolves, its point differential should be enough to get it through. 

At that point, the Thunder would hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over any team other than the Clippers. Considering that, all Oklahoma City needs to win the group is to win out and for the Clippers to suffer another loss. 

Should the Thunder end up in a situation where it’s in a two-way tie with LA at the top at 3-1, they would still be in the mix for the wild card spot. Among teams that have suffered at least one loss thus far, the Thunder’s +30 point differential is easily the best, with Portland’s +7 mark ranking second. 

In the wild card standings, point differential is the first tiebreaker, so Oklahoma City should have a leg up in that aspect. San Antonio’s +53 mark is the best overall in the West, so if it were to drop one of its remaining cup games against Portland or the Lakers and lose the group, then the Thunder’s wild card path would likely require some big wins in their final two contests. 

In any case, the Thunder’s chances of getting back to the knockout stage haven’t taken much of a hit thus far. Winning and winning big to close out group play against New Orleans and Minnesota should be more than enough for Oklahoma City to advance for a third straight year.