3 Numbers That Prove OKC is Primed for an NBA Championship

This OKC squad might be the youngest team in the association, but they just had one of the best seasons in NBA history.

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In 1967, the Philadelphia 76ers became the first team in NBA history to reach 68 regular-season wins. Led by Wilt Chamberlain, the Sixers would defeat the San Francisco Warriors for the NBA championship.

Fast forward 39 years, and the 2016 Golden State Warriors became the sixth team to record 68 wins on their way to a record-setting 73-9 season. While that iteration of the dynastic Warriors fell short of NBA immortality, they are still etched into the history books as one of the most successful teams in league history.

Nearly a decade later, another team has reached that prestigious mark and it so happens to be the youngest in the NBA – the Oklahoma City Thunder. Yep, that’s right, the inexperienced, playoff scarless, unintimidating (see 2:55 of this interview) OKC Thunder just became the seventh team to win 68 games in a regular season. And although those 68 wins don’t guarantee postseason success, here are three other metrics that should convince doubters that this Thunder team is primed for an NBA Championship.

12.87

The Thunder had more double-digit wins (54) than overall losses (18). That league-high number of 10-plus point victories led OKC to have a 12.87 margin of victory – the largest in NBA history.

The three other teams to have at least a 12-point margin of victory were the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers (12.28), the 1971 Milwaukee Bucks (12.26) and the 1996 Chicago Bulls (12.24); all of which won the NBA championship.

Now, just because you can beat up your regular-season foes does not mean you’ll have that success in the playoffs. But unlike catfish, the Thunder weren’t just stacking wins against the bottom portion of the league.

31

It’s one thing to take care of teams whose primary goal is to be as below .500 as possible. It’s another to make playoff hopefuls filled with dread. Against the latter of those opponents, Oklahoma City posted a 31-10 record, the best in the NBA.

That mark was three wins better than the 64-win Cleveland Cavaliers and was one of the best since ESPN started tracking that statistic. In fact, since 2003, OKC’s 75.6 win percentage against teams above .500 is the third best. The two teams above the Thunder, the 2015 and 2016 Golden State Warriors, made the finals and brought home one championship.

While those two Bay Area squads made their mark on the offensive end, this Thunder team is one of the best defenses of this century.

6.92

According to PBP Stats, OKC opponents scored 6.92 points below average per 100 possessions. Over the last 25 years, that is the ninth-best differential relative to league average.

This historically great defense was built upon speed, length and versatility, allowing the Thunder to be the most disruptive team in the NBA:

Stat	Value	Rank
Opponents FG%	43.6	1st
Field Goals Defended at the Rim %	61.1	1st
Defended Field-Goal % Difference (on all shots)	-3.1	1st
Forced Turnovers Per Game	17.0	1st
Steals	10.3	1st
Blocks	5.7	2nd
Deflections	21.0	1st
Points off Turnovers	21.8	1st

NBA.com

How many teams in NBA history have had arguably the best point-of-attack defender (Lu Dort) and two of the best rim protectors (Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein) in the league? Complement that with the all-around stopping powers of Jalen Williams, and there might not be a single weakness to expose on this Thunder team. They have the personnel and the coach to make the life of any opponent they face a living hell.