The Oklahoma City Thunder are on a crash course with history, and top sportsbooks are taking notice.
Key Takeaways
- The team’s only loss was by two points and without three starters.
- OKC’s 16-game winning streak is still 18 away from a new NBA record.
- FanDuel believes the Thunder gained more than 10% probability to set the wins record over the last week.
The Thunder just matched the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors - the current owners of the NBA’s best regular-season record - with a 24-1 start to the season. That was cemented in overwhelmingly dominant fashion, as they beat the Phoenix Suns by 49 points in the NBA Cup quarterfinals Wednesday evening.
The Thunder are no longer just a great team - they are on the verge of becoming historic.
Last Wednesday, FanDuel gave the Thunder +520 odds of going 74-8 or better during the regular season. Three games and three wins later, those odds are down to +280, meaning they’ve gained more than 10% probability to set the all-time mark.
To take it a step further, Oklahoma City also has +450 odds of reaching 75 wins. That means FanDuel is now more confident in them beating the current record by two games than it was in them beating it at all just last week.
The market goes as high as 77+ wins, which the Thunder have +1,260 odds (7.4% implied chance) of achieving.
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Another shot at history
While the NBA world is nearly half a year away from finding out if the Thunder will produce the best regular season ever, the team could only be five weeks away from more history.
The 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers hold the NBA record for the longest win streak with 33. The Thunder, winners of their last 16, have +1,200 odds (a 7.7% chance) of besting that mark.
Despite that, they are only +450 (18.2% implied chance) to beat the 2015-16 Warriors’ 28-game winning streak. They also have +2,200 odds to win 40+ and +8,000 odds to win 45 or more consecutive contests.
As improbable as these feats appear, OKC’s only loss this season - a Nov. 5 defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers - came by only two points, and three of their starters did not feature.
For the season, the club has outscored its opponents by 17.2 points per 100 possessions. That’s nearly 1.6 times more than the next-closest team, the Houston Rockets, who are 15-6.
It should come as no surprise that FanDuel has the Thunder as the clear leaders in NBA title odds at +110, well ahead of the Denver Nuggets (+750), Rockets (+1100), and the rest of the league.
Long way to go
The Thunder are hotter than any team has been in 10 years, but their road to history is far from guaranteed.
The reigning champs have the league's most difficult remaining strength of schedule, according to Tankathon. They still need to face the Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs four times, the Lakers three times, and the Rockets, Detroit Pistons, and New York Knicks twice.
Their next game will be against the Spurs in the NBA Cup semifinals Saturday. Six of their next eight contests will also be against teams that are currently at least three games above .500.
