OKC Thunder is a Stronghold of Top Spot in Northwest Division

The Oklahoma City Thunder is harboring the top seed in the Northwest Division, as the team continues to lengthen the gap between itself and its counterparts.

Dec 20, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gestures against the Miami Heat during the second half at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images / Rhona Wise-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder has appeared to be a bonafide contender slowly nearing halfway through the 2024-25 season—holding the top spot in the Western Conference and retaining one of the league's top defenses through 27 games.

Embedded in the Northwest Division, the Thunder held a position of power in the division for the early 2010s, taking the division title five times in six seasons—eventually relinquishing its impressive run in 2016-17 following the departure of Kevin Durant. That opened the door for the likes of the Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets to win in consecutive years. Utah and Denver held the most success though, as the Jazz saw two more division titles in 2020-21 and 2021-22 before the Nuggets sporadically earned two more of its own.

With the Thunder in the rear view and headed into rebuilding mode in 2021-22, that door was closed for Oklahoma City until a year ago—reviving itself as Western Conference and Northwest Division champions. That has looked to be the same thus far this season, as the Thunder has forged a wide gap between itself and the Denver Nuggets in second place in the division, and also hold the top spot in the conference quite comfortably.

Denver, sitting 6.5 games back from Oklahoma City, followed by a disappointing 14-13 start from the Minnesota Timberwolves who sit eight games back—the Thunder's talent from a year ago has been the most easily transferred into 2024-25 between these three teams who duked it out at the top of the conference and division last season.

Both Portland and Utah were expected to struggle, and have so far thus far sitting 13.5 and 15 games back from the Thunder's 22-5 record.

As Oklahoma City's season progresses, the team looks to become sharper and sharper even through injury woes—they don't look to be giving up the top spot in either the conference or division any time soon.

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