Where does OKC Thunder's 25-game start rank in team history? Here's the full list
The Oklahoma City Thunder is 17-8 through 25 games — good enough for second place in the stacked Western Conference.
The Thunder has the fourth-best point differential (+7.2) in the NBA behind Philadelphia (+11.3), Boston (+9.1) and Minnesota (+7.6).
OKC is off to its best 25-game start in five years.
For context, here’s how every Thunder team, all 16 of them, rank from worst to best in terms of 25-game starts.
More: How Jalen Williams is balancing role in OKC Thunder's Big Three
16. 2008-09 Oklahoma City Thunder (2-23)
The Thunder’s inaugural season got off to a rough start, but that was beside the point. Oklahoma City had its own NBA team. The Thunder, with a sophomore Kevin Durant and rookie Russell Westbrook, finished 23-59.
15. 2021-22 Oklahoma City Thunder (8-17)
Six teams are currently worse than 8-17, so for this to have been the Thunder’s second-worst start to any season is a reminder of how spoiled OKC fans have been. The Thunder finished 24-58, and while there were many who bemoaned the tank, look at what it led to: drafting Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 pick. That seems to have turned out OK.
14. 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder (10-15)
Year 1 of the rebuild coincided with a COVID-shortened 72-game season in which no fans were allowed at Thunder home games. OKC finished 22-50 and was unlucky in the lottery in landing the No. 6 pick, which it used to take Josh Giddey.
T12. 2019-20 Oklahoma City Thunder (11-14)
This was supposed to be the first year of the rebuild, but Chris Paul, Dennis Schröder and a first-year Thunder in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander proved to be a potent trio. OKC (44-28) made the playoffs in the bubble, losing in seven games to the Rockets in the first round.
T12. 2022-23 Oklahoma City Thunder (11-14)
Last year’s Thunder finished 40-42, wildly exceeding expectations. With six more wins this year than OKC had at the same time last year, the Thunder is once again better — much, much better — than expected.
More: 'Chet blocks everything': How Chet Holmgren set tone in OKC Thunder rout of Grizzlies
T10. 2014-15 Oklahoma City Thunder (12-13)
Kevin Durant missed the first 17 games and Russell Westbrook missed 14 of the first 16 games. The Thunder finished 45-37 and missed the playoffs.
T10. 2017-18 Oklahoma City Thunder (12-13)
The Thunder got off to a slow start in Paul George’s first season in OKC, but the Thunder finished 48-34. OKC was eliminated by Utah in the first round of the playoffs.
9. 2009-10 Oklahoma City Thunder (13-12)
After a 2-23 start in 2008-09, the Thunder started 13-12 the next year and finished 50-32. Last season, 50 wins in the West would’ve been good enough for the No. 3 seed. In 2009-10, the 50-win Thunder was the No. 8 seed, losing to the top-seeded Lakers in a memorable six-game series.
8. 2016-17 Oklahoma City Thunder (15-10)
Russell Westbrook, in Year 1 of the post-KD era, averaged 31.6 points, 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists en route to winning the MVP award. The Thunder finished 47-35 and was bounced in the first round by the Rockets.
More: 'Make the shot': An oral history of how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder stunned Nuggets
T4. 2010-11 Oklahoma City Thunder (17-8)
The Thunder was humming by Year 3 in OKC. The Thunder (55-27) won its first-ever playoff series against the Nuggets, and then the Thunder beat the Grizzlies in a seven-game Round 2 series. Dallas, the eventual champs, beat OKC in the Western Conference Finals.
T4. 2015-16 Oklahoma City Thunder (17-8)
We all know how the season ended, with Klay Thompson going nuclear in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals and KD joining forces with Golden State on July 4.
T4. 2018-19 Oklahoma City Thunder (17-8)
Another 17-8 start, only this one didn’t result in a Western Conference Finals appearance as the previous two did. This iteration of the Thunder, the last of the Westbrook era, finished 49-33 and was eliminated in the first round by Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers.
T4. 2023-24 Oklahoma City Thunder (17-8)
Including this season, 25% of Thunder teams have started a season 17-8. Pretty wild.
More: Who makes the OKC Thunder list for 15 best players in team history?
3. 2011-12 Oklahoma City Thunder (20-5)
The Thunder made the NBA Finals, losing to LeBron and the Heatles, in its fourth season of existence. That lockout-shortened season started on Christmas Day. The Thunder finished 47-19 in the 66-game slate.
T1. 2012-13 Oklahoma City Thunder (21-4)
This was OKC’s best squad by record (60-22), but its playoff hopes were derailed in the first round when Westbrook suffered a season-ending knee injury after colliding with Rockets guard Patrick Beverley. The Thunder still beat the Rockets in Round 1 before falling to the Grizzlies in the conference semifinals.
T1: 2013-14 Oklahoma City Thunder (21-4)
The third of the Thunder’s four Western Conference Finals appearances. OKC (59-23) lost in six games to the Spurs. OKC fell into an 0-2 hole before Serge Ibaka made an unexpected return from a calf injury that was thought to be season-ending. The Spurs won the series in six games and went on to beat the Heat in the NBA Finals.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Where OKC Thunder's 25-game start for 2023-24 ranks in team history
