OKC Thunder Winning Formula: Five statistical tipping points

The Five Winning Factors:

Scoring more than 104 points:

The Thunder average 99.6 points per game in losses and 112.7 in wins. If that gap seems large, it’s because it is. The number that pushes the Thunder closer to that enigmatic tipping point is 104 because the Thunder have only lost 9 times when they have hit it and won only 9 times when they haven’t. To be clear, that means their record when hitting 104 points is 34-9 and 9-21 when they don’t.

So what’s with that number? Well, the clearest thing in the numbers is that it nearly directly correlates to the Thunder’s defensive rating per 100 possessions, which is 104.4. Now factor in that they average 99.06 possessions per game, bringing their defensive rating times actual possessions to 103.356. Coincidence? Definitely not.