The Thunder have the best record in the NBA at 43-9. With only 30 games left, they are in the driver’s seat of claiming the top seed in the West and home-court advantage in the playoffs. The Thunder have had three impressive winning streaks this year. The first one was having the best start in franchise history at 7-0. After that, they broke another franchise record with the most consecutive wins in a row at 15. Those two winning streaks by the Thunder were very impressive. However, there is an argument that the six-game winning streak they are on right now is their best of the season.
During this winning streak, the Thunder have scored 100 points in the first three quarters in five of the six games. In addition, they have at least a 20-point lead in all six games. Their closest margin of victory has been by 12 points. Finally, last night against the Pelicans, they broke another franchise record by cashing in 27 triples. This six-game stretch by the Thunder is showing how dominant this team can be on a night-to-night basis. Everyone is probably tired of hearing this, but they have indeed done all of this without playing a single game fully healthy.
Update: Thunder have set their franchise record with 27 made 3 pointers.
(@BasketballGuruD) https://t.co/RhMAmhjDkD
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) February 11, 2025
This Thunder Winning Streak is The Best One of the Season
The Thunder’s Dominating Defense
Coming into the year, everyone knew the Thunder’s defense was going to be good, especially with the addition of Alex Caruso. However, no one could have predicted them to be this dominant. They are posting a defensive rating of 104.2, which is four points better than the second-best defense. The gap between them and the second-place team is the same gap from the second to the 11th best team. In addition, they are posting the best defensive rating since the 2019-2020 Bucks when they had a rating of 102.5.
However, their defensive rating isn’t the best reason why they are this dominant on defense. They can turn over their opponent relentlessly. OKC is leading the NBA in steals per game at 11.1, which is the most a team has averaged since the 1997-1998 season, when the Celtics averaged 12 steals a game. The Thunder have a total of 576 steals compared to 622 turnovers. That is just a gap of 46, and no team in NBA history has ever averaged more steals than turnovers or even been this close to achieving that. They are also sixth in blocks per game; however, the return of Chet Holmgren could increase that, as he has nine blocks in his first two games back.
The Thunder’s Improvements on Offense
At the beginning of the year, their offense was struggling immensely, especially their outside shooting. However, over these last couple of months, they have changed that. Their offensive rating is up to 117.5, which ranks sixth in the NBA, and they are only 2.1 points from second. Over the past six games, the Thunder have a 129 offensive rating, which is the best in the league. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the court, the Thunder have a 122.0 rating, which would be the best in the NBA. This is also without Shai playing in 14 fourth quarters this year.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sat out a 4th quarter for the 14th time tonight.
SGA still managed 31 points and 3 steals: pic.twitter.com/obmVTLJqTw
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) February 11, 2025
The reason the Thunder were in the market for a player like Cam Johnson at the trade deadline was to improve their outside shooting. Last year, they had the best three-point percentage in the NBA. However, they didn’t take a lot of them. This year, they wanted to take more of them, but it hurt their percentage at the beginning of the year. Nonetheless, recently, they have improved dramatically in that department as they are shooting 36.1% from three, which is the 13th best in the NBA. Moreover, they rank ninth in three-pointers made on the season and third during this six-game win streak. Because of their elite offense and defense, the Thunder also have a 13.5 net rating, which is the best in NBA history. If they keep shooting like they have been recently, that number will just continue to go up.
Currently the best net rating of all-time is not the 90s Bulls nor the 10s Warriors.
It’s the 2024-2025 Thunder. https://t.co/zVyNCkFQnG
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) February 11, 2025
They Have No Weakness
Last year, the Thunder had two major weaknesses: rebounding/size and playoff experience. However, this year, you can’t pinpoint any weakness in this team. They have a top-six offense and number one when Shai is on the court. They have the best defense in the NBA and are on a historic pace on that side. At the beginning of the year, you could pinpoint outside shooting as a weakness; however, recently, the Thunder have quited those concerns. The only question that remains is whether they can shoot in the playoffs, which they struggled to do last year. However, those struggles could have easily pointed to their lack of experience in the playoffs, which is no longer an issue now.
The only other weakness you could think of is rebounding. However, the Thunder have just played only two games in which all three of their centers were playing in Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Jaylin Williams. Therefore, any concern over rebounding issues will start to go away. Finally, the only concern there is and the only thing that might stop this team from achieving their goal is health. However, even that might not stop them, as they are 43-9 without being fully healthy this season.
The Last Word
This Thunder team has gone through three impressive winning stretches. However, this last stretch might be their most impressive one with how they have won their games. If they keep playing this dominant on both ends of the floor and keep improving in the areas they have struggled in, OKC could go down as not only the best team in Thunder history but one of the best teams in NBA history. The only thing that they need to accomplish is winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June.
Photo credit: © Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
