After enduring a long and extensive NBA Championship run that was directly followed by the shortest offseason in the association, the OKC Thunder still appear to be as dominant as they were throughout their historic 2024-25 campaign.
Through four weeks of action, Oklahoma City sports the best record in the association at 14-1, seems to be on pace to become just the third team in history to eclipse the 70-win mark, and is the undisputed favorite to take home the Larry O'Brien Trophy for the second consecutive year.
Yet, despite this early-season excellence, it cannot be overstated that the Thunder have been gifted one of the easiest schedules in the league to date.
Thunder are benefiting from one of easiest schedules in NBA
Per ESPN's findings, the Thunder's strength of schedule ranks 29 out of 30 teams.
11 of the 15 ball clubs they've squared off against so far sport a winning percentage under .500, and, compared to all the matchups they've seen, there's a strong case to be made that they're objectively miles ahead of every one of them.
Frankly, outside of the Houston Rockets on opening night, Oklahoma City has yet to see any foe who came into the campaign viewed as a legitimate threat to their repeat pursuits.
For those celebrating how the Thunder have managed to persevere in spite of many of their on-court struggles (Ex. shoddy long-range shooting), this favorable schedule has, without question, played a significant role when it comes to these fortunate outcomes.
What's even more exciting about their ongoing 82-game slate is that OKC won't have to see any of these kinds of teams (Denver, New York, Detroit, etc.) on a consistent basis until February, when they will face the likes of the Nuggets (twice), Rockets, Cavaliers, and Pistons during the month.
Now, granted, this ease of schedule should by no means nullify just how dominant this squad has been over their first 15 games of action.
After all, outside of record, they lead the entire league in key statistical areas such as defensive rating (103.2), point differential (15.5), and steals per game (10.8), while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again paves the way with the most total points scored so far at 479.
That said, it's important to understand that their sensational success rate to this point, even while largely influenced by their on-court play, has benefited from the schedule-makers, which is a fact that cannot be taken for granted or forgotten as they look to defend their title.