The manner in which the Oklahoma City Thunder clinched their spot in the NBA Finals seemed fitting.
It was a blowout.
Those have been the story of the Thunder season.
There hasn't been a team in NBA history with at least 12 wins by 30 points or more in a season — or with four such wins in a single postseason — until now. The Thunder are putting together one of the most dominant years in league history in terms of outscoring opponents. The most recent entry on that list: a 124-94 romp over Minnesota to clinch the Western Conference title, a score that probably could have been a lot worse if the Thunder were so inclined.
“This isn’t our goal," Thunder guard, NBA MVP and West finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We didn’t start the season like we want to win the West. We want to win the NBA championship. Now we are a step closer to our goal and we’re happy about that. But it’s still four more games to go win, four really hard games to go win and we have to be the best version of ourselves for four nights to reach the ultimate goal.”
A look inside the numbers paints a picture of how dominant this season has been for the Thunder:
They're winning by 12.5 points per game
The biggest point differential per game in NBA history, including playoffs, was posted by the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks — who outscored teams by 12.6 points per game.
The Thunder are winning by 12.5 per game when counting the regular season and the playoffs (the NBA Cup championship game, by league rule, doesn't figure into any official stats that are kept).
That's the second-biggest rate in league history, for now.
They have beaten 28 of the 29 other NBA teams by double figures at least once this season. The only team to avoid that fate against the Thunder was Golden State, which actually outscored Oklahoma City by an average of 4.7 points per game in their head-to-head matchups.
“They embody everything it means to be a team," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "And so, they deserve this. They deserve the opportunity that we have now. I couldn’t be happier for them because they invest so much in their own games, but they also invest so much in each other and in the team. And I just think it’s a really uncommon thing in professional basketball that they’ve built.”
The 30-point wins
There have been 13 games this season involving the Thunder that were decided by 30 points or more. They won 12 of them.
Minnesota absolutely throttled the Thunder in Game 3 of the West finals, winning by 42 points. It was a rare blip for Oklahoma City.
The Thunder have had a win by at least 30 points in every series — a 51-point win over Memphis in Round 1, wins by 43 and 32 points over Denver in Round 2, and now the 30-pointer that eliminated Minnesota in Round 3.
Oklahoma City’s eight 30-point wins in the regular season came against teams that all missed the playoffs; Toronto, Washington, Sacramento, Phoenix, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Charlotte and Utah. But to do it four times in the playoffs speaks to the ability the Thunder have to simply run away from quality opposition.
“They're a really good team,” Minnesota star Anthony Edwards said. “Everyone here knows it. It's no surprise to nobody here that this team is pretty good.”
80 wins
Oklahoma City is now at 80 wins this season, including playoffs. It's the 15th time in NBA history that a team has won 80 in a season.
If the Thunder win the NBA title, they'll finish with 84 wins — a total that only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (88), 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (87) and 1996-97 Bulls (84) have reached.
“Happy for the moment, but this isn’t our goal," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "This isn’t the end of the road. ... One more series to try to go win.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
