OKLAHOMA CITY — The Thunder needed a Game 7 to prove it was the best team last season, then two overtimes to open this season and show that … not much has changed?

Perhaps. They’ll need several more months of collecting receipts in order to guarantee that status. Until then, this will do, a satisfying if not convincing one-point win over a Rockets’ team that may qualify as a threat in the Western Conference — and a Kia MVP-like finishing touch by, who else, the reigning MVP.

If nothing else, the 2025-26 NBA season began with an entertaining game that held suspense until the last second of that second OT. And the two most visible players, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kevin Durant, were both involved in the second OT play that ultimately decided the outcome in the final seconds.

Aside f

See Full Page