There are a million and one different reasons to believe that the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder are still most likely to be crowned as the next NBA champion, too. Their recent play just isn't one of those reasons.
Their shooters are frigid, Jalen Williams doesn't look right, and their defense is more stingy than outright soul-snatching.
"They've just slipped from pick-a-god-and-start-to-pray levels of defensive dominance to merely incredibly elite defense," The Ringer's Rob Mahoney said on The Zach Lowe Show. "And the difference within that is all the pressure that it now puts on that offense, which on a given night might look like one of the best in the league, [but] on another might be a little rickety with the three-point variance."
Oklahoma City has, in a sense, re-entered the mortal ranks after looking effectively invincible earlier this season. That is not ideal, obviously, but is it actually reason to panic? Not really.
The field might be gaining ground, but the Thunder are still leading the championship race.
It sort of feels like a lifetime ago when Oklahoma City appeared en route to a historically dominant season. In reality, we're really only a shade over two months removed from the Thunder's second loss of the campaign.
Then again, two months might be eternity-adjacent on the NBA calendar. It's certainly enough time to impact identities and alter expectations.
Since that 24-1 start, Oklahoma City's record is a relatively ho-hum 18-13. It has the 10th-best offensive rating and sits third in defensive efficiency during this stretch, per NBA.com. Granted, those are still metrics many teams would hope to mimic, but the Thunder aren't just any other team.
They're supposed to be superheroic, remember? But this stretch sort of feels like we're suddenly the kid who accidentally saw Black Panther remove their mask at California Adventure. Turns out it was just another human being the whole time.
Well, that or injury issues have simply stopped the squad from having everyone needed to summon Captain Planet. Maybe the stars will still align in time for another dominant closing stretch and another step toward cementing a dynastic legacy.
It's worth noting that Mahoney added how Oklahoma City's slippage had the club looking "more vulnerable but still the favorites." And that Lowe said very little has changed with his expectation of another championship parade in the Sooner State.
This still feels worth watching, though, because there are areas to clean up. If OKC does just that, then a title run will seem as inevitable as it during that scorching start. The longer the Thunder appear mortal, though, the more hope the field will have of dethroning the champs.