After a historic start to the season, the OKC Thunder have officially plummeted back down to reality, as they have gone just 13-7 over their last 20 games.
While a 24-1 record over their first 25 games played is beyond impressive, their more recent stretch is arguably a better testament to their dominance.
Back in November, critics wondered how much of the Thunder's early-season success was due to their strength of schedule.
After the first 15 games of the season, the level of difficulty among their opponents ranked second-easiest among all 30 clubs in the league. Having just won the title the previous year and retaining every significant piece of their roster over the offseason, starting off strong was more of an expectation than a luxury.
Fast forward to Wednesday, and the Thunder now hold the 18th-toughest strength of schedule by ESPN's standards, a significant jump from a couple of months ago.
Some alternate sites even have OKC as high as eighth in their strength of schedule rankings.
The Thunder's most competitive month of the season so far was December, according to the NBA's official site, where their schedule ranked the 12th hardest. This was also the month in which they were dealt a three-game mini-sweep at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs, and sports media personalities began talking about the organization as if the sky was falling.
After what felt like doomsday to some, OKC closed out the month on a three-game win streak to finish 9-4 in 13 games.
OKC's most recent stretch also featured five games in a row against teams above .500. They battled red-hot opponent shooting and countless injuries to go 4-1 in that stretch, including complete demolitions of the Houston Rockets, Miami Heat, and Cleveland Cavaliers.
Thunder dominance goes beyond their win percentage
It's easy to look at OKC's record from November to now and see the steep decline in win percentage as a sign of regression.
When looking game by game, however, it is apparent that the rest of the NBA has thrown some of its hardest punches at Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and company over the most recent weeks, and this team has countered them as effectively as possible.
Aside from an uncharacteristic loss to the sub-.500 Hornets, the Thunder have taken care of business and collected emphatic wins over some of the top teams in both conferences.
February might be their toughest test yet, though, as new threats lurk just around the corner. The Denver Nuggets and the Detroit Pistons represent legitimate title threats that the Thunder have yet to face. They will have a combined three meetups with the two teams in addition to seeing the Rockets, Spurs, Magic, Suns, Cavs, and Raptors again.
If OKC can escape February with their undisputed top-dog status still intact, it will prove extremely difficult to bet against them come playoff time.