Thunder smash NBA winning margin record
Oklahoma City had a regular season like none other in NBA history.
The Thunder—who went 68-14—finished the season outscoring teams by 12.9 points per game, smashing the previous mark that had stood for more than a half-century.
The Los Angeles Lakers outscored teams by 12.3 points per game in 1971-72, and that was the record until now. For the season. the Thunder outscored opponents by 1,055 points.
“We can appreciate and be grateful for the things we’ve accomplished and still be hungry,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “Both things can be true.”
It was, by any measure, a dominant season for the Thunder. They won the West by a staggering 16 games over No. 2 Houston. They tied the 1972-73 Boston Celtics for the sixth-best record in NBA history, behind only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (73-9), the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (72-10), the 1996-97 Bulls (69-13), the 1971-72 Lakers (69-13) and the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers (68-13).
The teams that previously held the top five spots on the point-differential-per-game list—the 1971-72 Lakers (12.3 point-per-game differential), the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (12.3), the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (12.2), the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors (11.6) and last season’s Boston Celtics (11.3)—all won that season’s NBA championship.
“We’ve got a young team and I think it’s important for them to understand some of the things we’ve accomplished,” Daigneault said. “Franchise record for wins is a great accomplishment. Some of the other things we’ve accomplished together are great accomplishments. We don’t take them lightly. We’re grateful for them and we can still be hungry despite that. It was an unbelievable regular season. It was a special group of guys that deserve these sort of things.”
The Thunder—the favorite to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, will open the playoffs at home on April 20 against either Golden State, Memphis, Sacramento or Dallas.
