"the certainty of which was already established as a discursive given, but on whether they could mount a serious assault on the 2016 Golden State Warriors' mythic 73-win season. The latter is the most difficult team accomplishment in basketball, and yet it still wasn't a heretical topic, because the Thunder had so completely dominated the first-third of the NBA season, posting a 24-1 record, a plus-17.2"
"They were doing it all with Jalen Williams sitting out the first month, would-be backup point guard Nikola Topic getting diagnosed with cancer, and a generally dinged-up bench that saw guys like Chris Youngblood and Brooks Barnhizer getting real run. They were so good that when Giannis Antetokounmpo kinda-sorta-not-really-but-all-the-same-maybe-yeah-really hit the trade market, the wised-up read was that even a Rockets or Spurs trade for one of the best players on the planet wouldn't be enough,"
The Oklahoma City Thunder opened the season with a 24-1 record, a plus-17.2 net rating, and a defense far ahead of the field (7.4 points per 100 better than the second-best unit). The team achieved that while Jalen Williams sat out the first month, backup point guard Nikola Topic was diagnosed with cancer, and a thin bench saw Chris Youngblood and Brooks Barnhizer receive significant minutes. Even when Giannis Antetokounmpo briefly entered the trade market, analysts judged most additions insufficient to match the Thunder's cohesion. Since a 49-point win over Phoenix on Dec. 10, the Thunder have gone 8-6, including a close loss to Minnesota in which only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored and three defeats in 12 days attributed to Victor Wembanyama, Keldon Johnson, and De'Aaron Fox.
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