The Oklahoma City Thunder Have Proven Themselves True Title Challengers

If the Oklahoma City Thunder have shown anything over the first two months of the season, it's that they can certainly make noise this NBA season.

The top tiers are set. We know the Golden State Warriors are the class of the NBA. We know the San Antonio Spurs are only 3.5 games back of the Warriors in the Western Conference. (And a mere 4.5 games behind the Spurs are the Thunder.)

We know the Cleveland Cavaliers have the Eastern Conference on lockdown, if even by default as a constant shuffling from the lower seeds hasn't filtered out the East's next good team. And, even then, is there a team in the East who can defeat the Cavs in seven games this season?

And we know that a run for the Thunder comes with the looming shadows of the Warriors juggernaut and Kawhi Leonard's suffocating defense. But, the Thunder can do it. (If things ended today, the Thunder would see the Spurs in Round 2 and the Warriors in the conference finals.)

The Thunder are contenders. Their record may not have a pretty and smooth single digit in the loss column, but their numbers compete with the best, and that means San Antonio and Golden State.

The Thunder are second in the NBA in offensive rating at 108.7, per NBA.com, meaning they score 108.7 points per 100 possessions. The Warriors are first (112.3) and the Spurs are third (106.7).

But we knew that already, right? The Thunder's issues never involved their inabilities to score.

To be fair, as a top team in the league, the Thunder aren't exactly the shining example of the new era of ball movement in the NBA that's been mastered by the Warriors and Spurs. 

They're last in the league in assisted three-point field goals at 70.4 percent, per NBA.com. Even the Warriors, who have Stephen Curry's barrage of super-efficient, off-the-dribble threes every night, are at 82.9 percent assisted three-pointers. (Naturally, that means the Thunder lead the league in unassisted three-point field goals.)

The Thunder are 19th in two-point assisted field goals at 49.1 percent, per NBA.com. Slightly more than half of all Thunder field goals aren't assisted.

So, against the new wave of pace-and-space, how are the Thunder able to get a record of 22-10, 15-2 in the West? We know it's partially because they've dodged the Warriors and Spurs so far. The Thunder won't play the Warriors until Feb. 6 and haven't played the Spurs since the first game of the season. (They won't play the Spurs again until March 12).

Regardless, the biggest reason why the Thunder are contenders is those two superstars, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. But we knew that, so let's save the fawning over them because the Thunder are sneaky good in several other categories outside the greatness of Westbrook and Durant.

For one, the Thunder can defend. Now the Thunder aren't elite defensively the way of the Warriors (second at 97.4) and Spurs (first at 92.8), but they rank ninth at 99.6 points per 100 possessions. Serge Ibaka, whose points and rebounds have been on the decline, is still an elite shot-blocker at 2.34 blocks per game.

Their net rating (offensive rating minus defensive) of 9.1 is ranked third behind, you guessed it, the Warriors and Spurs, per NBA.com.

Team	Opponent Field Goal Percentage	NBA Rank
Oklahoma City Thunder	42.9	4
Golden State Warriors	42.5	3
San Antonio Spurs	42.3	2
Chicago Bulls	41.8	1

But they are fourth in the league in opponent field-goal percentage, despite giving up the third most attempts in the league at 87.3 shots per game, per NBA.com.

If the Thunder can keep up this defensive tenacity, with their half-court offense flowing through Westbrook and Durant, it will go a long way when the games slow down in the playoffs.

But, even then, the least-talked about stat that favors the Thunder's chances to compete for the West is their rebounding.

Rebounding rate zooms in on the rebounding stat that's usually limited to total rebounds. Simply put, the Thunder get 54.4 percent of all their rebounding opportunities. 

Stat	Percentage	NBA Rank
Offensive	30.5	1
Defensive	75.6	21
Total Rebounding	54.4	1

Further, the Thunder get offensive boards on 30 percent of their opportunities. That's 2.1 percent more than the second-place Detroit Pistons and super-rebounder Andre Drummond. A second chance on 30 percent of possessions is huge for a team like the Thunder because it means the ball will find Westbrook and Durant more.

Speaking of Westbrook and Durant, I promise we'll get to those two, but first here's a little nugget about the Thunder. Enes Kanter is the sixth-ranked player in player efficiency rating at 25.08, per ESPN.com. That's better than James Harden, Anthony Davis and Blake Griffin.

Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press

Kanter obviously isn't better than any of those guys, but what his PER shows is that he's efficient and effective.

And, take this stat as you will (whether it's a compliment to Kanter or a criticism of the Thunder roster), Kanter, playing 20.6 minutes a game, is the Thunder's leading rebounder at 8.2 a game.

Kanter isn't worth $70 million over four years playing just 20 minutes a game, but New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik is getting $60 million to play 15 minutes and get 4.3 rebounds, so at least Kanter makes an impact.

Kanter has proven to be a viable piece for the Thunder, despite his defensive inefficiencies.

Now, to the biggest reason why the Thunder are contenders, Durant and Westbrook.

Only once this year—a Nov. 10 game against the Washington Wizards—have Durant or Westbrook not led the team in scoring. (It was Dion Waiters that night.)

First, Westbrook.

Alonzo Adams/Associated Press

Westbrook is rocking a 30.39 PER, according to ESPN.com, second in the NBA behind Stephen Curry.

He's currently the fourth-leading scorer in the NBA at 25.6 points per game and he's third in the league in assists with 9.1.

According to Basketball-Reference.com, only four players have ever averaged 25 points and nine assists in a season: Tiny Archibald (who did it twice), Oscar Robertson (eight times, damn), Jerry West (twice) and Michael Adams (once).

Let's take Westbrook's season to another level. According to Basketball-Reference.com, if he keeps up this level of production, Westbrook will be the first player in NBA history to average those numbers with a PER of at least 30.

Not to mention he's a matchup nightmare, with stats provided by Synergy Sports Tech:

"

Russell Westbrook leads NBA PGs by a wide margin with 81 PTS on post ups this season. He ranks in the top-15 in post up efficiency overall.

— Synergy Sports Tech (@SynergySST) December 30, 2015"

Westbrook's ability to impose his will on opposing point guards has been apparent for years, but to see the stats of how he can back down whoever guards him just puts adds the exclamation point. If you say Westbrook is the best point guard in the league, you'd have no argument from me. He's a walking triple-double every night. And by triple-double, I mean 25-12-11, not 10-10-10.

Now, to Durant.

Alonzo Adams/Associated Press

How quick we forgot about one of the best shooters in the league. Curry gets the rightful credit for his prolific talents, but we're still less than two years seasons from Durant's 32 points per game and MVP season. It's far from a shot at Curry, but now that Durant has shown that he's healthy again (*knocks on wood, crosses fingers, says a Hail Mary*), he's more than capable of re-establishing himself as one of the best shooters.

Per Synergy Sports Tech:

"

Kevin Durant is shooting 94% on cuts, 65% in transition, 64% on post ups, 52% on isos, 50% on spot ups. all top-15% in NBA.

— Synergy Sports Tech (@SynergySST) December 30, 2015"

See that isn't just three-point prowess. Durant is shooting above 50 percent on all spots of the floor. In a comeback season, Durant is averaging the third-most points per game at 26.6 and averaging 7.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.

And, he seems to be getting his groove back, per SportsCenter: 

"

Since returning from a 6-game absence, Kevin Durant is en fuego. pic.twitter.com/HxeHDkpqKc

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 30, 2015"

His PER of 29.04 is third in the NBA. That's right. The Thunder have three of the top six players, according to PER.

Durant is flirting with the 50-40-90 club, currently averaging 51.9 percent from the field, 40.8 percent from three and 89.8 percent from the free-throw line. Westbrook's ascension over the past two years may have made him the best player on the Thunder, but it's close and Durant shouldn't be overlooked.

Despite the Warriors and Spurs' abilities to roll out 10-man rotations and get contributions from all 10, the NBA is still a star-driven league. The Thunder have two of the seven best players in the league. 

And I get it, the transcendence of Curry and the emergence of Draymond Green and Leonard make the road for the Thunder insanely difficult. And, if Westbrook or Durant go down (*knocks on wood*), then kiss this entire thing good-bye.

No team wants to play both the Spurs and Warriors, just to make it out of the West, with LeBron James and the Cavaliers likely waiting for them in the Finals.

But, then again, none of those teams really wants to play the Thunder, either.