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.
BREAKING: The Thunder are now 17-1 🔥
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) November 24, 2025
The only team ever with a better start through 18 games…The 73-9 Warriors. Pic.twitter.com/13woiY0H96
MORE: Is Golden State’s 73-9 record in jeopardy?
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
- Thunder predicted to add son of two-time NBA All-Star to help Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- How the Thunder are bringing the NBA closer to a 'doomsday scenario'