Discover the incredible win rate shaping OKC's rise. See how key players fuel this historic championship contender's dominance.
The Thunder logged 84 wins last season including the playoffs, which only trails the 2016 Warriors and 1996 Bulls across NBA history. Oklahoma City has continued its dominance into this season, as the reigning champs entered the All-Star break with the most wins across the association.
This franchise is no stranger to victory over the past two seasons. The Thunder’s young core deserves most of the credit, but veterans Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso were instrumental in the team’s leap from fringe contenders to champions.
Since acquiring both players during the 2024 offseason, Oklahoma City has gone 73-18 in regular season games with Caruso active and 72-15 with Hartenstein active. How about when both veterans suit up? The team owns a 48-10 regular season record in this scenario, which is a 67-win pace.
Speaking of victory, Cason Wallace has won 74.4% of his career regular season games when logging at least one minute. That’s the highest winning percentage in NBA history among players who have played at least 200 games. Magic Johnson (74%) and Larry Bird (73.6%) are the next two names on the list. The only active players currently in the top 20 besides Wallace are Sam Hauser, Kawhi Leonard and Jaylin Williams.
Wallace does not headline this list by sheer accident. Granted, he was very fortunate to begin his career on a team with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren on the rise. But Wallace also forced his way into the core rotation as a rookie due to his superb perimeter defense. He’s a winning player who does the dirty work and enhances the Thunder’s stars.
Finally, Holmgren’s outside shooting is also tied to the Thunder’s success. Oklahoma City has a 15-0 record in the playoffs when Holmgren shoots at least 33.3% from beyond the arc regardless of the volume. The trend holds whether he went 1-for-2 or 5-for-10. His percentage is all that matters. On the flip side, the team is just 7-11 in the playoffs when Holmgren shoots less than 33.3% on triples. Again, the volume remains irrelevant.
There is certainly a bit of randomness to this phenomenon, but it definitely speaks to the importance of Holmgren knocking down three-pointers. Shooting the basketball efficiently makes his minutes with Hartenstein viable because spacing does not become a massive issue. It deters defenses from packing the paint to the highest degree or playing zone defense to limit Gilgeous-Alexander’s midrange scoring.
Holmgren is currently at 34.9% from deep this season, which would easily be a career low. Oklahoma City’s offense needs him to bounce back and hit at least 37% of his triples. Whether he boosts his efficiency will be one of the biggest storylines of the 2026 playoffs for the Thunder.