The Oklahoma City Thunder have dominated their way through the NBA season thus far and they are currently one of the championship favorites.
Oklahoma City currently sits at the top of the Western Conference standings with a 53-12 record, which has them 11 games ahead of the second place Denver Nuggets.
Of course, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has led the way for the Thunder this season as he currently finds himself as a frontrunner to win his first MVP award, but the rest of Oklahoma City's roster has also played extremely well.
Jalen Williams has taken another step forward as the Thunder's second option, which led to him making his first All-Star appearance. Chet Holmgren has also played well despite battling injuries and their offseason additions of Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso have worked wonders.
With the Thunder playing well, they look like a championship contender and ESPN's Kendrick Perkins recently named them among the teams that are the top threats to the Boston Celtics' title defense.
"SGA has been on attack. But SGA is getting it done and leading the charge on both ends of the floor," Perkins said about the Thunder's chances of taking down Boston on ESPN's NBA Today. "The Oklahoma City Thunder rank number one in everything defensively. I believe they're coming out of the West."
.@KendrickPerkins ranks the top 5 teams that could be a threat to the Celtics pic.twitter.com/LrPbl4XuOe
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 6, 2025
Perkins named the Thunder second on his list of threats to Boston as the only team ahead of them were the Cleveland Cavaliers, who currently hold the best record in the NBA.
While that may be the case, the Thunder ae heavy favorites to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals and their defense is a major reason why.
Oklahoma City has had the best defense in the NBA this season and that will become a key factor once the playoffs begin.
Perkins also mentioned how Shai has balled out for the Thunder this season, but for them to make a title run, they will need the supporting cast to step up in the playoffs and if they can do so, they may be the biggest threat to the Celtics this season.
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This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 2:16 PM.