The league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder appear to be the team to beat this season, and there is a staggering stat that proves it. The Thunder are on pace to win 65 games and have the frontrunner to win Most Valuable Player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Nevertheless, the Thunder are still young and relatively inexperienced, aside from going to the Western Conference semi-finals last season and making the NBA Cup Finals earlier this season. That is perhaps the biggest question mark surrounding what is a historically dominant team.
Fortunately, history is on their side. Point differential is a relatively basic stat considering it is simply the average margin of wins and losses. However, it is often seen as a predictive stat based on their point differential. Championship-caliber teams often had a point differential of at least plus seven. However, the Thunder has a ridiculous plus 13 point differential.
That is historic, to say the least, with them having the highest margin of victory of any team in NBA history. It would be one thing if this were a small sample size, but they have played 54 games thus far and are blowing the doors off of teams consistently.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are both criminally underrated and historically dominant.
While the Thunder aren't quite on pace to set an NBA mark for win-loss record, their margin of victory suggests they are the most dominant team in NBA history. Of course, that means little when it comes playoff time. However, they are on pace to have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Not only that, but they also have the best defense in the NBA by a wide margin, and that tends to bode well for a deep playoff run. They also have the sixth-best offense and a superstar in Gilgeous-Alexander to rely on, with him consistently being able to drop 30 points per game thanks partly to his ability to draw free throws.
All in all, the Thunder have the tools needed to make a deep playoff run and have a superstar to carry them. In addition to having the best defense in the NBA, they have a top 10 offense and a historic margin of victory that suggests that they are indeed championship contenders.
Whether that ends up being the case remains to be seen, having to navigate a brutal Western Conference. That could either make or break them with potentially the Boston Celtics waiting for them in the NBA Finals. Nevertheless, this year's Thunder are on pace to have a historic season even if they haven't garnered enough attention.