NBA CUP: Thunder shut out Suns, Spurs stun Lakers without Wembanyama

The Oklahoma Thunder proved once again that they are the most in-form team at the start of the season, and that their hunger for titles has no end after crushing the Phoenix Suns (138-89) and qualifying for the NBA Cup semifinals. Waiting for them there are the San Antonio Spurs, who surprised the Los Angeles Lakers of Luka Doncic and LeBron James despite being without their franchise star, Victor Wembanyama.

The victory in the Cup, a tournament whose games have also counted toward the NBA regular season, underpins a historic start to the season for the reigning league champions. With this victory, the Thunder became the second team in history to win 24 of their first 25 regular-season games.

The only other team to start a campaign with a 24-1 record was the Golden State Warriors of Stephen Curry the 2015-2016 season, who went on to post the best regular-season record in league history at 73–9.

Fully focused, the Thunder gave no room for surprise from the early stages of a game they ended up winning by 49 points and reached halftime with a controversial 76-48 in front of their Paycom Center crowd, where they are undefeated this year.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points in 27 minutes. The MVP was assisted by Chet Holmgren (24 points) and Jalen Williams (15). The Thunder are especially interested in capturing a trophy that eluded them last season in the finals against Giannis Antetokounmpo's Milwaukee Bucks.

In Phoenix, the absence of their star player, Devin Booker, due to groin problems, further minimized their chances of an upset.

LeBron’s surge wasn’t enough to lift a struggling Lakers squad

In the other game of the day that secured a spot in the Las Vegas Final Four, a sluggish Lakers fell to a Spurs squad missing its star due to a calf injury. The absence of their leader, however, ignited the San Antonio Spurs, who came out firing, jumping ahead by as many as 20 points before LeBron took over and brought the game back to level.

The Angels' top star lifted his crowd when, at nearly 41 years old, he burst into the zone and soared for a ferocious dunk over Luke Kornet, a powerful 6-foot-8 power forward. With that spectacular action the Lakers were back down by 10 points (66-58) shortly before halftime but the Spurs were undeterred.

Luka Doncic finished with 35 points but LeBron James and Austin Reaves were held to 19 and 15 respectively. Backup point guard Marcus Smart, with 26 points and 8 three-pointers, was the one who kept the hopes alive for the hosts, who conceded the most points of the season.

For San Antonio, young Stephon Castle shined with 35 points and 10 rebounds in a great team performance, with up to seven players reaching double digits in scoring. In addition, every local reaction attempt was stifled by Castle, De'Aaron Fox (20 points) or forward Harrison Barnes (16), who combined to convert 15 3-pointers.

"We just wanted to speed up the game, push the tempo," Fox said in remarks picked up by AFP. "Every time we got the ball back we wanted to play fast but without rushing."

Final Four on Saturday in Las Vegas

On Saturday, in addition to the Thunder-Spurs - who hope to have Wemby back by then - the New York Knicks-Orlando Magic will be played for the other ticket to the final, which will be played on Tuesday.