It was a history-making Sunday for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In its final game of a successful yet slightly surprising 57-win campaign, it became the youngest team to achieve both that win count and a No. 1 seed in a season. With an average age of 23.9 years old — increased heavily by the addition of Gordon Hayward — Oklahoma City is accomplishing things unprecedented for the stage its at.
The Dallas Mavericks had little opportunity to prevent that from happening. Most of their roster rested last night, including its star guard duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. This led to a 49-point loss, but one that ultimately mattered less for Dallas.
It was a combined effort for the Thunder, with all of its starting lineup receiving less than 20 minutes of playing time. The leader was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 15 points, followed by Aaron Wiggins’ 14 points.
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Here are three takeaways from the 135-86 win:
Apr 14, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) and
Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
1. Bring the Thunder
If yesterday’s win proved anything, it was that Oklahoma City is ready to embark on a playoff run.
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The Thunder went on a five-game win streak to finish out the regular season, allowing the returning Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams to get comfortable after dealing with minor injuries. The roster is fully ready to head into its first shot at the Larry O’Brien since the “bubble season” of 2020, with the highest expectations its had since the days of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
The pieces to the puzzle have fully come together, too. Gilgeous-Alexander has clearly been at the top of the MVP contention ladder, Chet Holmgren has been the second-best performing rookie of the year and Jalen Williams has made the expected sophomore jump, but it’s clicking even beyond that.
Josh Giddey played possibly his worst stretch of basketball of his entire career on multiple occasions throughout the season, but finally got back to his confident play in the final few weeks. Bench pieces such as Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins have been crucial pieces to Oklahoma City’s success, while the newest addition of Gordon Hayward has finally started to get comfortable.
No matter the age, inexperience or matchup, the Thunder is going to be the team that the Western Conference runs through. It’s hard to place exact expectations on a team with these circumstances, but as its proved all season long, you can’t count it out.
2. OKC has Depth
Although the playoffs tend to be the time for coaches to shorten the rotation, Oklahoma City certainly has the depth to last in the playoffs.
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Due to the circumstances of a depleted Dallas lineup, the Thunder starters hardly had to play to secure one of the biggest blowout victories of the year. That allowed the bench unit to step in and do most of the damage, scoring 85 of the 135 total points.
Wiggins’ 14 points led the way for the bench, followed up by Ousmane Dieng’s 13, Wallace and Lindy Waters III’s 12. Wiggins and Wallace will certainly be the top pieces that come off the bench, but Dieng and Waters showed the potential to make an impact, even if the possibility is far more unlikely.
Teams never want to think about the possibility of their top players getting injured in the playoffs, but it can happen at anytime. If Gilgeous-Alexander fell it would be a much different story, but if players lower on the ladder came down with an injury, Oklahoma City would have plenty of options to retain the same production.
3. Potential First Round Matchups
Even though the Thunder has the No. 1 seed locked up, it won’t know its first round matchup until after the Play-In Tournament.
The four teams featured in the tournament in order are the New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. It includes teams that have previous playoff experience with superstar talent, so no matter the matchup, it won’t be a cakewalk for Oklahoma City.
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As great as the Thunder has been throughout the entire season, it doesn’t have a player with the legendary status as a LeBron James or Stephen Curry. Those players alone can pose a serious challenge, even if their rosters are relatively weaker all-around. It certainly has the capability of beating those four teams, but it may not be as much of a shock if it fell in the first round.
Oklahoma City will set it eyes on its opponent after Friday, when the Play-In comes to a close.
Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
1 Plano No. 5 fire station paramedics — I thank God for the paramedics at Plano No. 5 fire station. On Sunday after services, my wife of 46 years had a severe heart attack. The 911 call brought six great men who quickly got my wife to the excellent Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital and saved her life.
I am so grateful to not only live here in Plano, but that the Lord is not done with Donna yet.
Anton Skell, Plano
2 Dallas Park and Recreation teams — On behalf of all the bikers, joggers and walkers along the White Rock Creek trail, a special thanks to the Dallas Park and Recreation teams that clean all the goo and muck off the trail after a heavy rain.
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This is particularly an issue at the White Rock Creek and Cottonwood Creek low water crossing as mud several inches thick accumulates along about a foot-long swath of the trial, making it incredibly slippery and unsafe.
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However, like clockwork, we can count on a team from Park and Rec with their front-end loader, shovels and squeegees to clear the path within 24 hours or so. Appreciate all the work!
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Ron Carey, North Dallas
3 DMN voting recommendations — Thank you for the time and energy that you spend vetting the candidates and making your recommendations. I take your thoughts seriously and am grateful for the information you provide.
I hope you continue to provide this valuable service. It’s needed and appreciated.
Alice Gant Coder, Dallas
We welcome your thoughts in a letter to the editor. See the guidelines and submit your letter here.
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If you have problems with the form, you can submit via email at letters@dallasnews.com
Downtown Dallas Inc. announced Friday that it backs the potential relocation of City Hall and redevelopment of that site, adding support to a high-stakes decision about the city’s urban core.
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“DDI believes this is a generational opportunity to modernize and elevate how Dallas delivers public services,” said its president and CEO, Jennifer Scripps. “But we must be equally clear: Any future City Hall belongs within the highway loop in downtown.”
She said the current building “is no longer serving its intended purpose,” adding that key government functions are “inefficient — truly stymied in that space.”
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Jennifer Scripps, president and CEO of Downtown Dallas Inc., delivers opening comments during the group’s annual meeting at the Fairmont Dallas on Feb. 27, 2026.
Steve Hamm
DDI, a nonprofit, promotes downtown Dallas, and its board voted unanimously this week to back the course outlined by the City Council’s Finance Committee, Scripps said at the group’s annual meeting at the Fairmont Dallas.
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That committee this week asked city staff to shift 311, 911 and emergency operations to a new government center as soon as possible, explore moving all other functions and pursue redevelopment options for the current site at 1500 Marilla St.
Downtown business interests favor redevelopment of the property for mixed-use projects and other ideas, while preservationists have called for protecting the I.M. Pei-designed building.
Last year, City Council members directed City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert to assess the building’s condition. She engaged the nonprofit Dallas Economic Development Corp. to lead the review.
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The EDC’s report, released last week, found that fully repairing and modernizing City Hall could cost taxpayers more than $1 billion over 20 years.
DDI also is urging city leaders to pursue a redevelopment strategy for the existing site that builds on major public investments already underway downtown, including:
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The Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
The Black Academy of Arts and Letters
Dallas College
Memorial Auditorium, the planned future home of the Dallas Wings
Scripps said downtown offers assets that could be repurposed to consolidate city functions and improve public access.
She also said the organization hopes the Mavericks basketball team and Stars hockey team remain in or near downtown, “where they belong.”
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The Dallas Mavericks (21-37) were beaten early and late by the Sacramento Kings (14-47) at home on Thursday, falling 130-121 in their first home game in over a month. Precious Achiuwa scored a career high 29 points against Dallas, leading the Kings. He also chipped in 12 rebounds and four assists. Naji Marshall was the best Dallas player, scoring 36 to go along with 10 rebounds and six helpers.
The first quarter of Mavericks-Kings really proved that in the NBA, anything is possible. With a couple of wonky lineups, largely due to neither team having anything resembling their normal roster, there wasn’t much defense to be played on either side of the ball. And while Marshall had himself a quarter, scoring 13, every other Maverick was some variation of bad. The Kings, meanwhile, put up baskets with ease. Dallas left quarter one down 42-28.
The Kings stopped scoring at will in the second quarter, and the two teams settled into a bit of a slog. Sacramento did grow the lead to as many as 18 in the frame before Dallas found some dignity and made a push. But they weren’t able to make it a close game in one quarter. Sacramento finally committed a few turnovers in the latter minutes of the half to give Dallas a chance to cut it to single digits, only for a last-second turnover, which led to a Kings basket. Dallas trailed 68-56 at the half.
The third quarter was something special. The Mavericks cut the Kings lead down to three very quickly to start the half, only to get walloped on a huge Kings run. The game then teetered back and forth between single and double digits. Marvin Bagley went down with a head injury, which slowed the Dallas momentum. The Mavericks found themselves down 12 as the quarter ended, which was the same amount they were down when the second half began. Dallas trailed 100-88 with 12 minutes to go.
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The Dallas Mavericks made things interesting, you have to give them that. The fourth quarter was a slow collapse by the Kings, a theme we’ve seen all season as Dallas shocks people simply by playing hard. The 12 point lead whittled down to 2 points with two minutes remaining, only for the Kings to wake up and close out the contest. Dallas falls, somehow, 130-121. A masterful tank.
That was a genuinely shocking game
Perhaps it’s me. Maybe I’m the problem. Maybe I don’t believe enough, in Jason Kidd, in this Dallas Mavericks team.
When I noticed this four game slate in mid-December, when the Dallas season was already over and no one knew it, I marked it down as a stretch which would cause the fandom to go NUTS. Four straight wins, even against the Grizzlies, who weren’t yet tanking either. The Kings were bad. They should be beatable every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
But no, not for our Dallas Mavericks. With PJ Washington and Daniel Gafford out, with Cooper Flagg out, this was a game Dallas wanted to lose institutionally. Don’t let the players hear that, of course. Kidd played Marshall 42 freaking minutes, and the dude battled his butt off. But Caleb Martin exists, and he’s one of the players on this team who probably shouldn’t be in the NBA at this point. He played a mere 20 minutes but was outscored 25 points while he was on the floor. That’s so hard to do!
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But Dallas did it. And they lost.
Now, they’ll win some games they shouldn’t. They have too much veteran talent to actually TANK, like the Kings, Jazz, and other moribund franchies. But for now, enjoy how ridiculous a loss this was. Go Mavs.
