Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder rose to the top of the basketball world by finishing with a 68-14 regular-season record and winning the NBA championship. They did so on the strength of a defense that many called one of the greatest the league has ever seen, and they were also an underrated offensive team.
It also didn’t hurt that they were led by league MVP and scoring champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a deep, young, and ascendant cast.
So far this season, it seems as if the Thunder may be an even better team, at least in the early going. They have gotten out to a 12-1 record and are not only winning games but often winning them by lopsided margins. In fact, their lone loss was by two points to the Portland Trail Blazers.
There is now speculation that they could end up becoming just the third team to win 70 regular-season games or even challenge the record of 73 victories set by the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. In fact, one scout said the team may end up doing something completely outlandish and unfathomable.
“They might win 80 [games],” a West scout said, per ESPN.
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Obviously, there is no way an NBA team will ever win 80 games in a single season. But the way the Thunder have been playing, 70 wins may not be out of the question — if it is a goal they actually have.
“The only question,” an East scout said, “is if they want to.”
It is worth giving a reminder that those 2015-16 Warriors ended up losing in game 7 of the NBA Finals to the Cleveland Cavaliers, much like how the 2007 New England Patriots became the first NFL team to go 17-0 during the regular season, only to lose in the Super Bowl to the New York Giants. Some have wondered if that Warriors squad burned itself out late in the season by breaking the previous record of 72 wins, which was set by the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls.
But Oklahoma City’s amazing depth should allow it to absorb minor and even moderate injuries without skipping a beat.
“They have the depth that they could win 70 games even if they don’t want to,” an East scout said. “Their second stringers would start in most places. Their third stringers would be in the rotation most places.”
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As otherworldly as the Thunder were last season, they may be even better right now. Last year, they had a 106.6 defensive rating and a 12.7 net rating, but so far this season, they’re clocking in with a 103 defensive rating and a 15.6 net rating.
They’re currently averaging 122.5 points a game, compared to 120.5 points per game last season. Big man Chet Holmgren seems to be taking the next step toward becoming a bona fide star, and Gilgeous-Alexander is a hair beneath Giannis Antetokounmpo for the NBA’s highest scoring average.
And, by the way, the Thunder have been doing all this without budding star wing Jalen Williams, who averaged 21.6 points a game last season and is currently recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
There’s a long way to go, but if the Thunder don’t repeat as world champions, it would surprise and perhaps even shock many people. But much stranger things have happened, and, after all, they were taken to seven games in last season’s playoffs by both the Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers.
For more on the Thunder and general NBA news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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