On Monday, the OKC Thunder won their NBA-best 21st game by double digits with a 140-129 win over a banged-up Hawks team.
No other team has more than 15 such wins.
Though it would appear the Thunder have been running through the league, they can't avoid one obvious truth: all of these blowouts have been against awful teams.
Of these aforementioned double-digit wins, only five have come against winning teams, and an argument can be made that only two of them were impressive, as both the Warriors and Sixers are barely hovering above .500.
Thunder point differential masking true performance this season
OKC is currently the only team in the NBA averaging a double-digit point differential, and many fans have taken that as a sign of historic dominance.
The reality, however, is that the Thunder have played just 12 games against teams above .500 this year, and they are 8-4 in such outings, a far cry from their 28-5 overall record.
Top-tier teams have absolutely stumped Oklahoma City. Against teams that are a top six seed or higher, the orange and blue are an alarming 3-4.
This includes a double-overtime win over the Rockets on Opening Night, a 1-1 showing against the Timberwolves, and an early-season sweep at the hands of a chippy Spurs team.
Only their win against the Lakers earlier in the season has looked easy.
Bouts against playoff teams show glaring Thunder weaknesses
As of Tuesday, OKC is currently second in the NBA in points scored. However, in the seven previously mentioned games against top talent, the Thunder are averaging a pathetic 112.4 points per game on offense, 9.1 points fewer than their season average.
To put this into perspective, that mark would rank fifth-worst in the league.
Various players have disappeared when the lights have been at their brightest in 2026. Jalen Williams, in particular, has seen major efficiency drop-offs against stronger competition so far.
Alex Caruso has had his share of disappearing acts, including a 3-for-13 shooting catastrophe in the third game against the Spurs, where he shot just 16.7 percent from three.
Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Chet Holmgren has been bullied down low by several adversaries along the way, such as Alperen Sengun and Victor Wembanyama.
The Thunder may look like the best team in the NBA on paper, but so far, their fiercest competition has seen right through them.
Last year's team seemed to rise to every occasion and eventually finished the job, but the 2026 OKC Thunder appear to be shying away from confrontation and masking it with meaningless blowout wins against subpar teams.
If they wish to defend their title this June, Daigneault and the boys must develop a game plan for the league's most threatening teams, or else they might not even sniff the Larry O'Brien Trophy again.