The OKC Thunder are not just succeeding during the 2024-25 season -- they're absolutely dominating.
Through 45 games played Oklahoma City finds itself leading the league in numerous noteworthy categories including steals (11.3), defensive rating (103.9), and record (37-8).
On top of this, they sport a lineup that includes the league's leading scorer in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (32.1) and have five players (SGA, Isaiah Joe, Alex Caruso, Kenrich Williams, and Isaiah Hartenstein) who have logged 20+ games ranking within the top-five in net rating.
Now, while these findings certainly strengthen their claim as being the best team currently in the league, ironically enough, arguably the metric that most emphasizes how elite this Thunder squad has been this season is the one they rank next to last in.
Lowly 'clutch' point totals ironically highlight how dominant Thunder are
In the NBA, "Clutch time" is known as the final five minutes of a game where the score is within five points. Upon first glance, it would appear the Thunder have severely struggled in these crucial moments of a contest, particularly on offense where they rank second-to-last in total points scored (112).
However, this specific statistic is overwhelmingly influenced by the fact that OKC hasn't participated in many games this year with a score this tight.
Per the league's database, the ball club has found itself in such scenarios just 15 times this season, tying the New York Knicks for the second-lowest mark in the entire league.
This, in large, is due to the fact that the Thunder have been handily downing their opponents on a nightly basis, which is strengthened by their league-leading total plus-minus of +551. To put into perspective just how impressive this is, the second-placed team in this department, the Cleveland Cavaliers, is over 100 points behind them at +446.
In some ways, this lack of run in such settings could skew the perception that some may have regarding the team and their players. Gilgeous-Alexander, for instance, is the only member of the Thunder who ranks within the top 50 in crunch time points this season, as he places 19 with a total of 50 points scored.
However, similar to the fact that SGA doesn't need crunch time to inflate his scoring numbers (already leads the league in points per game at 32.1 without it), Oklahoma City hasn't needed it to determine their games.
More often than not, three-and-a-half quarters has been all they've needed to put an opposing team away.