OKC inches closer to matching Stephen Curry–era Warriors record

OKC inches closer to matching Stephen Curry–era Warriors record originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Oklahoma City Thunder picked up their 17th win of the regular season after Sunday night’s 122-95 blowout over the Portland Trail Blazers, improving their record to 17-1.

It’s become the same rinse-and-repeat story fans have grown accustomed to. The score is already decided by halftime, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander spends yet another fourth quarter on the bench, and Mark Daigneault continues to uncover hidden gems throughout his bench unit.

Oklahoma City has been so dominant that its 17-1 start now ranks second all time through 18 games — trailing only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. That Warriors team, powered by an MVP-level Stephen Curry, elite shooting from Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green anchoring the defense, famously finished the year 73-9.

It’s genuinely frightening how overpowering the Thunder have looked so far, and they’ve shown zero signs of slowing down. Aside from their lone loss, OKC has already stacked two separate eight-game win streaks in its first 18 contests. Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 32.2 points, 6.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals — all while essentially playing only three quarters. He’s already skipped the entire fourth quarter seven times this season.

That’s not just dominance. That’s a warning.

What makes the Thunder even scarier is how they’re discovering new offensive weapons without both SGA and Jalen Williams — who has yet to play a single minute this season. Since the start of last year, Oklahoma City is an absurd 29-1 in games J-Dub has missed.

At this point, it’s hard to pinpoint which team will finally halt OKC’s machine-like momentum. Their 16.9-point average margin of victory ranks nearly six points higher than the second-place Houston Rockets. For reference, it took the 2015-16 Warriors 25 games to take their first loss and 31 games to pick up their second.

If history is any indicator, Oklahoma City is positioning itself for a place among elite company — perhaps right alongside Stephen Curry’s Warriors, or maybe, in a category entirely of its own.

More Thunder news:

• Oklahoma City bench erupts for nearly half of team’s 144 Points

• Thunder give Jalen Williams injury designation as he nears return from wrist surgery

• Shai-Gilgeous Alexander put himself in elite scoring category with Steph Curry, Jerry West

• Is Golden State’s 73-9 record in jeopardy?