The Oklahoma City Thunder have been off to a scorching hot start to the season.
Every NBA season, one team bursts onto the scene of playoff contention. Last season, the Oklahoma City Thunder were that team. They jumped from 40 wins the season prior to 57 wins — good for the No. 1 overall seed in a difficult Western Conference.
The club rolled into this season with similar expectations. They bolstered their roster and were projected to have similar regular season success.
However, Oklahoma City has gotten off to a more-than-ideal start, which has been good for them to set franchise history. Since arriving in the city in 2008, they haven’t had a 6-0 or better start to the season. This year, they’re off to a 7-0 start.
Not only have they made franchise history, but they made league history, as well.
Revealed by NBA on ESPN, the Thunder are the only team in NBA history to win their first seven games by ten points or more. The interesting part about this is that they’ve only scored an average of 113.3 points per game in that span. They’re blowing teams out and winning by large margins while being in the middle of the league in terms of scoring per game.
Elite defense has propelled Oklahoma City to a strong start, and it’ll be the same reason they find sustained success. Their offense can waiver, as they do in the league, but they can always rely on their league-leading defense.
The Thunder’s 93.8 defensive rating is the best by a large margin, as the Golden State Warriors are second with a 102.1 defensive rating. Oklahoma City’s elite start to the season hasn’t come together by a lucky stretch of games — they are legitimate contenders.
Heading into the season, the consensus was that Oklahoma City would be among the best teams in the Western Conference. They’ve backed that up thus far, making history through seven games.
The amount of depth the Thunder have combined with top-heavy talent makes for a strong roster capable of withstanding a long regular season. They’ve got a profound culture within the locker room, too, making competing at the highest level even easier.
Leading into the new league year, many media members and pundits selected the Thunder to compete against the Boston Celtics in their NBA Finals predictions, though they’ll have to get through teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks and more to do such a thing.
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