OKC Thunder Again Proving to be NBA’s Best

Fresh off their first championship in the Oklahoma City era, the Thunder were expected to be the best team in the NBA. And they’ve been just that through 10 games.

On Sunday night, they faced off against the Memphis Grizzlies, getting down as much as 19 before easily powering back for a 14-point win.

Not only does OKC have the best record in the league at 9-1 — a few games ahead of the next-best Pistons at 8-2 — they also have the best point differential. Though they narrowly edge the Nuggets here, a positive 13.6 to 13.2.

Right now, the Thunder are pacing 74 wins.

Through their first 11 games, the OKC Thunder are 10-1.

As of right now, the Thunder are on pace to win at least 74 games.

There is still a lot of basketball to go, but this Thunder team has a real shot at challenging the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors’ NBA record 73 wins.
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) November 10, 2025

But we need not talk about the fact that they’re on pace to challenge for certain all-time regular-season records. For now, simply stating the obvious is enough: Oklahoma City is the best team in the association, and it’s only going to get worse for the rest of the league.

The Thunder have yet to play a single game with All-NBA hybrid Jalen Williams, who is still working his way back from a wrist injury he played through in last year’s Finals run. Additionally, the team has seen a myriad of other impact players miss time, including center Chet Holmgren, potential All-Defense nominees in Luguentz Dort, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso, as well as Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and more.

The much-talked about internal development seems to be rearing its head for OKC.

Ajay Mitchell is a breakout star, averaging 17.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Isaiah Hartenstein is somehow continuing to level up deep into his career, and Chet Holgmren is off to another blazing start, this time featuring mid-range work that could push his star case over the edge.

Miraculously, we made it this far without even mentioning the reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is again playing like a player worthy of hardware, averaging a ludicrous 33.2 points per game in just 34.8 minutes played.

There are a few things working against OKC in the short-term.

So far, they’ve played the second-easiest schedule in the league so far, only behind the Charlotte Hornets. With wins over the downtrodden Pacers, Mavericks, Wizards, Pelicans and Grizzlies, things are certain to get harder from here, starting with a Tuesday bout against Golden State.

Secondly, while Jalen Williams has plenty of chemistry with his Thunder teammates, folding him back in from injury isn’t likely to be seamless.

Still, in the big picture, these things affect OKC little. They remain the team to beat in the NBA without even being at full force, and yet the opposition has only mustered that once in 10 tries.

For now, they'll trudge along talking of stacking days and playing at zero and zero, though they continue to play like a squad we'll talk about for decades.