Once again, the Oklahoma City Thunder are the team to catch in the National Basketball Association.
I know there’s the Miami Heat and their incredible line-up and there’s Jeremy Lin making waves in New York. But they’re still all behind the Thunder.
I say “once again” because this year is just like last year, as Oklahoma City appears to be the team with the greatest chance of winning the West and making it to the final. They were just two games of Dirk Nowitzki magic away from the finals last year, and you can guarantee that it hasn’t been forgotten.
And if they can go that close from a fourth-seed spot, imagine what they could do as the runaway conference leaders – because that’s exactly what they’re doing this year.
Sitting at 27-7 and a full three games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs in second, few sides boast the ability to take down this point-scoring, game-winning machine that is working its magic in Oklahoma City.
The struggling Lakers? The ageing Spurs? The temperamental Mavericks? The young Clippers?
They may all have the potential to beat the Thunder, but teams aren’t measured on their potential. Teams are measured on their wins. And winning is exactly what the Thunder are doing.
Statistically, they’re the most dominant team in the league.
Oklahoma City currently sit top-six in the league for points scored per game, winning margin, field goal percentage, field goal percentage allowed, defensive rebounds, defensive rebounds allowed and assists.
Throw into that Kevin Durant, who is arguably the best player in the game, as well as players like Russel Westbrook and Serge Ibaka and you have one very, very strong team.
It’s little wonder that the Thunder have the best record in the league and have only dropped one match at home. They are currently on a five-game winning streak and one must wonder how long the streak could last if they continue to play as dominantly and explosively as they currently are.
March isn’t the easiest of months for the Thunder, but there’s not a single game in the next two weeks that they won’t be favoured to win.
They’ve got a tough road trip to Philadelphia, Orlando and Atlanta, and it’s highly likely that Durant and the boys will drop a win somewhere in there.
But with five home games in a row after that, you’ve got to think that the No. 1 seed in the West might already be done and dusted and every other game from here on in is simply just the mini-battle as to see who gets to take on the champion.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are expected to win the West, and they will.
They’re expected to enter the playoffs as the toughest team to beat at home, and they will be.
Whether they’ll go all the way this year remains to be seen, but if they continue to rack up the points and wins with the proficiency that they’re currently showing, you’ve got to think they’ll come close.
Like, seriously close.
rocketjam
Guest
People who make comments like this about Westbrook obviously do not see most of the Thunder games like those of us in Oklahoma do. Westbrook and Durant make a great team and the supposed tension between them has been manufactured by the media. So far it appears OKC management and coaching has been pushing all the right buttons and they resigned Westbrook to a big multi-year deal this year so they seem to have plenty of faith in him.
mushi
Guest
That is why the only team that Joel Anthony can legitimately play for is the heat. Before someone say’s he’s short for a centre his standing reach is higher than Shaq’s – he’s actually tall for a centre.
Samuel Candido
Roar Rookie
Bosh has beefed up a little this year and is playing hard but the Heat will struggle without a big, angry, dirty 7-footer in the play-offs.
mushi
Guest
I love the thunder but you cannot make a viable case that they are statistically the “most dominant” team right now when Miami are ahead of them in EVERY meaningful metric other than offensive rebounding rate (which isn’t the most meaningful metric). From ESPN: Their offensive efficiency (points per 100 possession) – 2nd (behind Miami) Their defensive efficiency (points allowed per 100 possessions) – 13th! (Miami are 5th) True Shooting % - 2nd (behind Miami) Points differential per 100 possessions – 4th (#1 rhymes with schiami ) The Thunder are a killer offensive team but only a middling defensive team, where as Miami are not only top echelon at both ends but BETTER than the thunder at their supposed strength. Does that mean they can’t beat Miami – no but you’d have to install the Heat as the top team right now.
Dan Talintyre
Roar Guru
Hi, thanks for the read and comment. Everyone knows the West is stronger than the East - that's a given really. And even if it's not stronger, the style of play (generally speaking of course) is different. Western games are more likely to be a shootout (e.g. OKC, DEN, MIN, PHX) whereas Eastern games are more likely to feature strong defense (e.g. BOS, IND, PHI, CHI to an extent). So it's a tough argument to make because as dominant as the Heat might be, the Thunder might never have to play them for the championship. I do think the final will be Miami-Oklahoma, but the style of play between conferences is so different, arguing that the Heat will beat the Thunder is hard to make when we're talking NBA finals. Yes, you're exactly right that those who don't go for the Heat, love to hate them. As a Boston fan who can see the next ten years of frustration coming up, trust me, I know! But I'm more jealous of OKC's squad than Miami — purely because they can win in a shootout because they have to do it several times throughout the year. Miami are probably a more complete basketball team to be honest. But as complete as they may be, that doesn't win a championship. Thanks for your comment though. Appreciate it.
Swampy
Guest
Basketball fans in Seattle must cry when they see the Sonics - I mean Thunder - play. This regular season means nothing. Young and athletic teams are tending to do better (sixers, thunder, bulls etc) than older teams (lakers, celtics, mavs) with the only exception as San Antonio (probably due to their coach). Thunder should win the West but Westbrook has yet to prove himself in a big playoff moment nor has he shown that he will defer to the autobot of scoring, Kevin Durant. If Westbrook can keep his ego in check and let Durant be 'the man' 100% of the time in the crunch then he will have made the necessary tweaks that the Thunder will need to take the title. -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download The Roar's iPhone App in the App Store here.
DumpStar
Roar Rookie
Oklahoma have the same record as the Heat. The Heat look pretty good, and considering the majority of there losses came when Wade was out, it's really scary how good this team is. Heat at #1 in points scored per game. #2 in points differential (9.4 vs Oklahoma's 6.4). Can Oklahoma actually stop Miami from scoring points, when the Heat have so many threats? I know those who don't go for the Heat, love to hate the team. But I put it down to envy at the squad we have.
TomC
Guest
Bring back the Sonics!