How the OKC Thunder are Convincingly Beating Talented Teams

It's been an ideal beginning of the season for Oklahoma City; testing different lineups and getting the feel for its young players while competing at a high level and illuminating its star power.

That star power primarily coming from the 6-foot-6 guard who's continuing to make noise around the league, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

It's no question why, though.

He's now up to 29.6 points a night on an outstanding, career-high 53.5% from the field through 13 games, playing an average of nearly 34 minutes in those contests.

This has earned him the No. 5 spot in the Kia MVP Ladder just under a month into the season, which is the same placing he received in the award a year ago.

Leading Oklahoma City to a 10-4 record so far — Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder have found themselves with a number of eye-opening wins, especially within its recent five-game winning streak.

A 111-99 victory over Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns kickstarted the Thunder's winning streak on Nov. 12.

Since then, a 36-point win over the San Antonio Spurs, 19 and seven-point victories against the Golden State Warriors, and finally a 43-point win over the Portland Trailblazers on the second night of a back-to-back.

It's been a concerted effort from each starter and deep into the bench. While Gilgeous-Alexander is the forefront of that star power, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are also shining for this Oklahoma City team early.

Holmgren's been exceptionally efficient, as nearly everyone on this team has — with the Thunder sitting atop the NBA in true shooting percentage at 61.8%.

Holmgren specifically is shooting 56.5% from the field, 46% from three and 90.7% from the line, having quite a leg up on the 50-40-90 player he aspires to become.

He averages 17 points per game on these shooting splits.

For Williams, he's shooting 51.8% from the field and 36.8% from three, along with 88% from the free throw line — averaging 17.5 points on the season.

These two have been anchoring the ship behind Gilgeous-Alexander, but it would be wrong not to mention the true impact rookie Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe are bringing off the bench.

Wallace has started multiple games so far supplanting the absence of either Gilgeous-Alexander or Williams, and he's fulfilled those spots whenever he's been called upon.

He's been such a vital piece to this team — putting up 7.3 points a night with pressuring perimeter defense while being Oklahoma City's most efficient scorer, 62.5% from the field and 54.2 from three.

But Joe has arguably been just as important.

The spacing Joe provides for the Thunder's playmakers is immense, and when the gravity of Gilgeous-Alexander sucks defenders into the paint — that's when Joe is deadly.

Such a comfortable shooter off the catch, he's made 39 3-pointers on the year while making 50% of them, providing a huge benefit to Oklahoma City's kick-and-drive play style.

All of this offensive efficiency, combined with holding a top-five defensive rating, has helped the Thunder earn the third highest scoring margin in the league.

Oklahoma City boasts a +8.8 scoring margin on the year, coming behind Boston and Philadelphia, and edging out the current No. 1 seed in the West in the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The season the Thunder has cultivated thus far has been nothing short of impressive. If the efficiency continues to translate night by night, this team could truly shake things up in the Western Conference.

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.