Are the Thunder the best regular-season team ever?
The Oklahoma City Thunder (63-12) have been machine-like this season. Their 145-117 win over the Chicago Bulls extended their record against Eastern Conference teams to 28-1 this season — the best record any team has ever had against the opposing conference.
They have already surpassed their previous franchise-best of 60 wins from the 2012-13 season and are just one win away from matching their all-time high of 64 wins, set in 1995-96 when they were the Seattle SuperSonics.
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If the Thunder continue their current winning streak to the end of the regular season, they will become just the third team in NBA history — after the 1995-96 Bulls and 2015-16 Golden State Warriors — to hit the 70-win mark. Both of those teams reached the NBA Finals, and the Bulls lifted the Larry O'Brien Trophy.
On the latest episode of 'The Athletic NBA Daily,' Dave DuFour and Es Baraheni were joined by Anthony Slater to discuss Oklahoma's record-breaking season, whether anything short of an NBA Finals berth would be considered a disappointment for the Thunder and Lu Dort's case for Defensive Player of the Year.
Dave and Es also recapped the Lakers' crucial 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets in the nail-biting Western Conference playoff race, the Memphis Grizzlies dropping a third straight game in their 117-103 loss to the Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers' 111-109 victory against the Sacramento Kings to strengthen their hold on the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Watch the full episode of 'NBA Daily' below or on the YouTube channel, or via the 'NBA Daily' podcast feed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
(Top Photo: Darren Yamashita / USA Today Network via Imagn Images )
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