NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder Set Record with Early Season Dominance

We knew the Oklahoma City Thunder would be good. They made it to the Western Conference Semifinals last season, and they opened this year at +700 to win the NBA Championship, ranking them second behind the Boston Celtics. But we didn’t know that they would be this good, or this good, this early.

OKC is off a 7-0 start, which is the best in franchise history. But they aren’t just winning games, they are dominating games, winning each of those seven games by 12 points or more. No team in the history of the NBA has started a season with more double-digit wins. When it comes to early season dominance, the Thunder stand alone.

As you might imagine, when you win games by a lot of points, you cover a lot of point spreads. Along with their 7-0 start, Oklahoma City is 6-1 against the spread. In their 105-93 win over the San Antonio Spurs on October 30, the Thunder were favored by 12.5 points. With just 13 seconds left in the game, San Antonio hit a two-point shot, taking the margin of victory from 14 down to 12.

That’s all that stands in the way of the perfect start for the Thunder – 13 seconds. But if you’ve been a regular Oklahoma City bettor to begin this season, you are not unhappy with 6-1.

Thunder vs. Nuggets on Wednesday

The next game on the schedule for Oklahoma City is at the Denver Nuggets, who are off a 4-3 start. These two teams opened the season against one another two weeks ago in Denver, with the Thunder winning easily, 102-87. It was OKC’s fourth-straight win over the Nuggets, going back to last season. Prior to those four games, Denver was the winner in five of six.

Wednesday night’s game has the Thunder favored by four points, which will be just the second time this season that Denver is the underdog. When these two teams played to open the season, Denver was a two-point favorite. They were favored in their next game as well against the Los Angeles Clippers, but also lost that game.

Through seven games, the Nuggets are just 2-5 against the point spread. Last season, they were 23-24-1 ATS at home, and were a home underdog just one time, which they ended up winning by six points.

Last season, the Thunder were road favorites in 28 games, and they covered exactly 50% of the time. Overall, the Thunder were 52-39-1 ATS in the regular season.

Denver comes into the game hobbled by injuries. Aaron Gordon played just four minutes against the Toronto Raptors because of a calf strain, and he is doubtful against the Thunder. Jamal Murray has missed the Nuggets last two games after he suffered a concussion last Friday.

Current Thunder Championship Odds

A win on Wednesday would move OKC to 8-0, adding to their franchise-best start. And it would keep them as the only unbeaten team in the Western Conference.

When the season began, the Thunder were +700 to win their first NBA title in OKC, and that number is now down to +425. Their odds to win the Western Conference have also shortened, and they are now paying +220. 

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander began the season as the third betting favorite to win MVP. But he has gone from +425 to +250, and that ranks him first among the favorites. He is averaging 25.7 points per game and 6.9 assists through seven games. In each of the previous two seasons, he averaged more than 30 points per game.