{"id":330721,"date":"2025-12-04T20:59:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/330721\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T20:59:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T20:59:07","slug":"who-can-challenge-the-thunder-breaking-down-okcs-real-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/330721\/","title":{"rendered":"Who can challenge the Thunder? Breaking down OKC\u2019s real contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

And just like that, we\u2019re a quarter of the way into the NBA<\/a> season. Some of the popular preseason conventional wisdom has so far proven true (the defending champs are loaded), while there have been other developments that few saw coming (the rise of the Pistons<\/a> and Suns<\/a>, the complete collapse of the Clippers<\/a>).<\/p>\n

With a solid sample size to draw from, here\u2019s our first Contender Tiers installment of the season.<\/p>\n

\n Tier 1: Undisputed Heavyweight Champs<\/p>\n

A season ago, the Thunder won 68 games. They lost just eight times at home — including the playoffs. They had the best defense in the league by a significant margin. How significant? The gap between their top-ranked defensive rating (106.6) and No. 2 Orlando (109.1) was roughly the same as the gap between No. 2 Orlando and No. 8 Cleveland (111.8). They set an NBA record with a plus-12.9 average point differential. And, oh yeah, OKC won its first championship.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s a pretty high bar to set. And yet, right now, the Thunder are clearing it. We\u2019ll see whether they repeat as champions, but they\u2019re off to an impressive start. They\u2019ve lost once and are just the fourth team in NBA history to begin 20-1 or better. They\u2019ve somehow increased their margin of victory, upping their average point differential to a seemingly impossible plus-15.3. They\u2019ve also improved their defensive rating to 103.8. That makes the gap between the Thunder and second-rated Houston (110.3) roughly the same as the distance between the Rockets<\/a> and 21st-ranked Chicago (116.6). That\u2019s outrageous.<\/p>\n

The reigning MVP (and Finals MVP) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> is second in the league in scoring, has 54.8\/43.4\/87.9 shooting splits and lays waste to opposing defenders nightly. The supporting cast from Chet Holmgren<\/a> among the starters to Ajay Mitchell<\/a> off the bench (or even as a spot starter) is deeper than any other team in the league. And the Thunder have achieved most of this with Jalen Williams<\/a> \u2014 who made his first All-Star, All-NBA and All-Defense teams last season \u2014 missing the first 19 games due to injury. He\u2019s back now, making them even stronger. It\u2019s the Thunder and then everyone else.<\/p>\n

\n Tier 2: OKC\u2019s Biggest Challengers<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for challengers to OKC, the two best offenses in the NBA are a good place to start. The Rockets lost Fred VanVleet<\/a> before the season even began and still figured out a way to turn their unconventional style into the second-rated offense in the league. Houston compensates for averaging the fewest 3-point attempts by being first in offensive rebounds and second-chance points per game. They\u2019ve also done a good job slowing down the opposition in transition and are fourth in opponents fast break points. Adding Kevin Durant<\/a> to a group that includes Alperen Sengun<\/a>, Amen Thompson<\/a> and Reed Sheppard<\/a> (who went from bench afterthought a year ago to being a key component) has the Rockets boasting a plus-11.4 average point differential. Only OKC has been better. Houston is also second in defensive rating. Only the Thunder have been better in that category as well. That\u2019s good company to keep.<\/p>\n

After a loss to the Kings<\/a> in late November, Nikola Jokic<\/a> said the Nuggets are \u201cnot that good.\u201d<\/a> Dropping a game to a struggling Sacramento team can leave a guy in his feelings. But with respect to Jokic \u2014 who is once again averaging a triple double and will be jockeying with SGA for the MVP all season \u2014 any team that has him on it is pretty good. Despite injuries to Aaron Gordon<\/a> and Christian Braun<\/a>, two of the team\u2019s five starters, Denver is first in offensive rating. That\u2019s the Joker effect. The Nuggets have also had some bad luck (and poor shooting) in close contests and have gone 2-6 in Clutch games. And yet they\u2019re only a half game out of second place in the conference. The Nuggets took OKC to Game 7 in the second-round last year. The Thunder are better this season, but so is Denver.<\/p>\n

\n Tier 3: Quality Competition<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an argument to be made that the Pistons, Lakers and Spurs deserve to be in Tier 2. Detroit has been the pleasant surprise of the season. The Pistons lead the Eastern<\/a> Conference and are off to their best start since the 2005-06 campaign (when they began 37-5 and reached the conference finals). After making his first All-NBA team last year, Cade Cunningham<\/a>\u2018s points, rebounds, assists and steals per game are all up this season. Jalen Duren<\/a> is averaging a double double, has improved his defense, and is one of the best values in the league<\/a>. And with Tobias Harris<\/a> and Jaden Ivey<\/a> recently returning from injuries, JB Bickerstaff has a deep team with a rotation of 12 players seeing regular minutes.<\/p>\n

The Lakers are pretty top heavy in terms of talent, but when that top includes Luka Doncic<\/a>, Austin Reaves<\/a> and LeBron James<\/a> you\u2019re in good shape. They\u2019re 12th in net rating, which is right around where they finished a season ago when they snagged the No. 3 seed in the West.<\/p>\n

Victor Wembanyama<\/a> got off to an excellent start, but he\u2019s missed the last nine games with a calf injury and still has no timetable to return. Remarkably, the Spurs are 7-2 over that stretch. At various points this season the Spurs have also been without the services of De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a>, Stephon Castle<\/a> and Dylan Harper<\/a>. San Antonio has managed to overcome all that. When healthy with Wemby in command, they\u2019re a dangerous team that could make a deep postseason run.<\/p>\n

The Knicks have been without OG Anunoby<\/a> (hamstring) for the last eight games but still have the best average point differential in the Eastern Conference at plus-7.2. Even after losing to the surprising Celtics<\/a> the other night (more on them shortly), the Knicks have the best odds to win the East<\/a> along with the Cavs.<\/p>\n

The Wolves are close to being top 10 in offense and defense. Anthony Edwards<\/a> is having his most efficient shooting season, with career-highs in eFG (58.3) and TS percentage (63). And let\u2019s not forget that Minnesota has been a tough out in the playoffs, reaching the conference finals the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

The Cavaliers are still finding their footing. Last season they had the top-ranked offense and were eighth in defensive rating; this season they\u2019re 11th in both departments. They just dropped a game at home to the Blazers and have lost four of their last five. Cleveland is dangerously close to being dropped into Tier 4.<\/p>\n

\n Tier 4: Eastern Conference Mixed Bag<\/p>\n

Plenty of reasons for optimism in this tier. Also some uncertainty.<\/p>\n

The Heat<\/a> lost at Dallas to a suddenly feisty Mavs team on Wednesday night but have still won seven of their last 10. After missing the start of the season with an ankle injury, Tyler Herro<\/a> has returned and scored at least 20 points in all five games he\u2019s played. Norm Powell has been excellent in his first season in South Beach<\/a>, Bam Adebayo<\/a> has been typically reliable, Andrew Wiggins<\/a> has been a consistent contributor and Jaime Jacquez Jr is having a bounce-back season after a down second year. Miami is close to being top 10 in offense and defense. There\u2019s a lot to like here \u2014 and yet I have a hard time believing they\u2019ll finish ahead of the Pistons and Knicks.<\/p>\n

Same for the Raptors, Magic<\/a> and Hawks. The Raptors are exceeding everyone\u2019s expectations (except maybe ousted former general manager Masi Ujiri, who constructed this group). After a slow start, the Magic have won the last seven of 10 without Paolo Banchero<\/a> who\u2019s dealing with a groin injury. And Jalen Johnson<\/a> is posting career highs in countless categories for a Hawks team that hasn\u2019t missed Trae Young<\/a> at all while he\u2019s recovering from a knee injury. (Johnson<\/a> was a late addition to Wednesday\u2019s injury report with a calf issue and sat out the Hawks home loss to the Clippers, a development that probably has all the fingers and toes crossed in Atlanta.)<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns (13-9)Boston Celtics (12-9)<\/p>\n

Look at them. Who would have thought, huh? Not me.<\/p>\n

Count me among the many who figured the Suns<\/a> would flame out this season without Kevin Durant after they shipped him to Houston. It was hard to figure how Devin Booker<\/a> would work next to newly acquired Jalen Green<\/a> and Dillon Brooks<\/a>. Green has missed all but two games this season and remains out with a hamstring injury. In his absence, Brooks has thrived as a starter and is averaging a career-high 22.3 points. The Suns have also gotten quality contributions from Grayson Allen<\/a> and Collin Gillispie, among others. The Suns don\u2019t profile as more than a playoff spoiler. Maybe they win a round. But considering the expectations outside of Mat Ishbia\u2019s office were incredibly low, that\u2019s not bad.<\/p>\n

\n Tier 4: Eastern Conference Mixed Bag<\/p>\n

Plenty of reasons for optimism in this tier. Also some uncertainty.<\/p>\n

The Heat lost at Dallas to a suddenly feisty Mavs team on Wednesday night but have still won seven of their last 10. After missing the start of the season with an ankle injury, Tyler Herro<\/a> has returned and scored at least 20 points in all five games he\u2019s played. Norm Powell has been excellent in his first season in South Beach, Bam Adebayo<\/a> has been typically reliable, Andrew Wiggins<\/a> has been a consistent contributor and Jaime Jacquez Jr is having a bounce-back season after a down second year. Miami is close to being top 10 in offense and defense. There\u2019s a lot to like here \u2014 and yet I have a hard time believing they\u2019ll finish ahead of the Pistons and Knicks.<\/p>\n

Same for the Raptors<\/a>, Magic and Hawks. The Raptors are exceeding everyone\u2019s expectations (except maybe ousted former general manager Masi Ujiri, who constructed this group). After a slow start, the Magic have won the last seven of 10 without Paolo Banchero<\/a> who\u2019s dealing with a groin injury. And Jalen Johnson<\/a> is posting career highs in countless categories for a Hawks team that hasn\u2019t missed Trae Young<\/a> at all while he\u2019s recovering from a knee injury. (Johnson was a late addition to Wednesday\u2019s injury report with a calf issue and sat out the Hawks home loss to the Clippers, a development that probably has all the fingers and toes crossed in Atlanta.)<\/p>\n

Phoenix Suns (13-9)Boston Celtics (12-9)<\/p>\n

Look at them. Who would have thought, huh? Not me.<\/p>\n

Count me among the many who figured the Suns would flame out this season without Kevin Durant after they shipped him to Houston. It was hard to figure how Devin Booker<\/a> would work next to newly acquired Jalen Green<\/a> and Dillon Brooks<\/a>. Green has missed all but two games this season and remains out with a hamstring injury. In his absence, Brooks has thrived as a starter and is averaging a career-high 22.3 points. The Suns have also gotten quality contributions from Grayson Allen<\/a> and Collin Gillispie, among others. The Suns don\u2019t profile as more than a playoff spoiler. Maybe they win a round. But considering the expectations outside of Mat Ishbia\u2019s office were incredibly low, that\u2019s not bad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And just like that, we\u2019re a quarter of the way into the NBA season. Some of the popular…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":330722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-330721","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=330721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/330721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/330722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=330721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=330721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=330721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}