Nearly a third of the way through the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have established themselves as a true contender. They are 17-8 and in second place in the Western Conference.
Under the hood, OKC’s peripherals pass the eye test as well. They rank in the top 10 in net rating, offensive rating and defensive rating.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s emergence as an MVP candidate has been the main catalyst for OKC’s success. Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams are playing like borderline All-Stars, giving the Thunder a promising trio leading them into their new window of contention.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has helped OKC push the right buttons when it comes to filling out the rest of its roster around those three stars.
We’ve reached the portion of the season where teams are starting to separate from the rest of the league. The sample sizes are large enough to form legitimate opinions on the Thunder.
Let’s see where the Thunder are ranked in several major statistical categories through 25 games this season.
Offensive Rating: 117.3 (9th)
The Thunder have been one of the best offenses in the league. OKC possesses three efficient scorers in its starting lineup: Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Williams.
Gilgeous-Alexander leads the way with 30.7 points on 52.3% shooting. It is a ridiculously efficient scoring campaign for the 25-year-old.
Even though they’re still top 10, the scoring has dipped recently. After a hot start from 3, the Thunder have regressed, shooting 32.5% from 3 in their last five games — the 26th-best mark in the league in that span.
Defensive Rating: 110.1 (6th)
Respectable defensive squads have been a staple under Daigneault, and the Thunder now have the talent to turn it into a real strength.
The trio of Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort provides the Thunder elite defensive talent on all three levels along with two of the best blocks and steals recorders this season.
The Thunder’s philosophy is to allow the opponent to shoot as many 3-pointers as possible. OKC is ranked second in 3-pointers allowed to the opponent (39 attempts). So far the strategy has paid off. Opponents have shot 35% on those attempts.
Net Rating: 7.2 (3rd)
This is a true benchmark to see how good a team is beyond its record, and it might be the damnedest stat to showcase when it comes to proving the Thunder are legit contenders.
The Thunder trail only the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers — two contenders with veteran squads — in this department.
A mixture of quality close wins over good opponents and blowing out bad teams has helped strengthen OKC’s net rating.
Points per game: 120.2 (5th)
The Thunder have been an offensive juggernaut for most of the season. OKC is shooting an impressive 48.8% from the field and 38.2% from 3. The Thunder are also first in free-throw percentage at 85.6%.
Led by Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder are on another level than most of the league when it comes to making the most of their shot attempts. As mentioned earlier, the 3-point shooting is regressing but OKC has survived it so far.
Rebounds per game: 41.6 (25th)
Crashing the glass might be OKC’s biggest weakness. The Thunder are ranked in the bottom five in total rebounds, offensive rebounds and rebound percentage.
It’s not totally surprising to see this be the Thunder’s biggest fault. Examining their roster, they don’t have an elite rebounder and are relatively small. This will likely be a problem for the rest of the season unless external help is added.
Assists per game: 25.5 (20th)
In a twist, the Thunder are a bottom-10 team in assists despite possessing one of the best offenses in the league.
The Thunder are 25th in the percentage of made shots assisted and sixth in the percentage of made shots unassisted, which means OKC is scoring a ton of its points on self-created shots.
Amid his excellence, Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t known as a playmaker. If your lead guy isn’t racking up assists, the rest of the team likely will not either. OKC’s best playmaker, Josh Giddey, has had a down season as well.
Turnovers per game: 12.9 (4th)
Ball security has been an elite trait for the Thunder, who average the fourth-fewest number of turnovers. OKC has done an excellent job limiting self-made mistakes that can skew the shot volume.
If you were to describe the Thunder offense with one word, I think efficiency would be the most popular phrase. OKC is making the most of its opportunities on offense by hitting its shots and not having failed possessions.
Steals per game: 8.6 (3rd)
Led by Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder have been one of the best teams in the league in creating additional offensive opportunities by stealing the ball.
Gilgeous-Alexander is responsible for 2.8 of OKC’s 8.6 steals per game. The 25-year-old has a large lead as the league’s steal leader. No. 2 Donovan Mitchell averages 1.8.
This has helped the Thunder become one of the best transition teams in the league, averaging a league-leading 27.5 points in the fast break.
Blocks per game: 6.4 (2nd)
The Thunder are also dominating in the blocks category, ranking second in the league. Holmgren leads the way with 2.8 blocks. The 2022 No. 2 pick has lived up to — and arguably exceeded — the hype entering his rookie season.
OKC’s elite rim protection has helped it become one of the best defensive teams at limiting paint points. It ranks fourth in the fewest points allowed inside of the paint at 44.8.
Fouls per game: 20.2 (21st)
Fouling has been a bit of an issue for the Thunder this season. It’s not as troublesome as their boards’ problem, but it can be a sneaky issue that can allow teams to score free points at the free-throw line when they hit the bonus early during a quarter.
Luckily, that hasn’t been the case for the Thunder so far this season. They’ve given up the fourth-fewest amount of opponent free-throw attempts. Still, though, they could be playing with fire if they don’t clean up in that department.
