OKC, Cleveland remain undefeated to start the season

The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers remain the only undefeated teams in the NBA after a week of play in the brand new 2024-2025 NBA season.

The Thunder have started off strong with a 4-0 record with wins over the Denver Nuggets, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, and the San Antonio Spurs. Against the Spurs, OKC flexed its might by holding Spurs budding star Victor Wembanyama to just 6 points on 5 shots. 

Chet Holmgren had 19 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in just 27 minutes even while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled shooting from the floor. SGA had 18 points but shot just 7-20 from the field and 2-10 from three. Holmgren was able to neutralize Wembanyama as the matchup gained traction following their Rookie of the Year race a season ago.

Lu Dort led the way for the Thunder with 20 points with 6 three-point makes as OKC’s defense made San Antonio shoot just 41.2% from the field and struggled to manufacture shots for their young star.

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, pummeled a homecoming LeBron James with his son Bronny James Jr. and the Los Angeles Lakers to go up 5-0 and remain the only Eastern Conference team without a loss (Boston lost to Indiana).

Cleveland won handily despite a huge difference in free throw shooting, with 8 free throw attempts compared to LA’s whopping 33.

The Cavs leaned on team effort to beat the visiting Lakers with Evan Mobley continuing his stellar play to start the year with 25 points on an efficient 12/16 shooting. Jarrett Allen had 20 points and 17 rebounds while Donovan Mitchell chipped in 24 points and 7 assists. 

Other notable performances of the night include Karl-Anthony Towns dropping his best game as a Knick yet with a 44-point, 13-rebound night as New York defeated Miami on the road, 116-107.