The Thunder’s Historic Start

The Thunder have kicked off the season in a way that’s turning heads—it’s quite historical, actually.

That’s not lost on oddsmakers. Oklahoma City, the reigning champions and clear favorites to repeat this season, are sitting at +125 to win the NBA Finals again. If that stays the same or even improves, they’d be entering the playoffs as the biggest favorites since the 2019 Warriors, who were at -179 before the first round.

In the Western Conference, they’re a -125 favorite, which is also noteworthy.

But here’s something even more interesting: as the Thunder claimed another victory on the road against the Warriors, bringing their record to 21-1, they are just +550 away from potentially hitting 74 wins. That would break the single-season record held by the Golden State team from 2015-16.

Oddsmakers are suggesting that the Thunder have about a 50-50 chance to reach 70 wins, giving them +100 odds for that milestone.

It’s looking increasingly likely they could end the season with the most wins in the NBA, with odds at -1500.

Looking at how they’ve started, it’s not all that shocking, really. Oklahoma City boasts a net rating of +15.1, which might even be considered the best in NBA history.

They became the fourth team ever to win 21 of their first 22 games, joining teams like the 1969-70 Knicks, 1993-94 Rockets, and the 2015-16 Warriors. Notably, the Knicks and Rockets went on to win the championship, whereas the Warriors fell short against the Cavaliers.

And they’ve achieved all this while Jalen Williams, possibly the second-best player behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, has only appeared in three games.