The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 130-106 on Saturday night in a meeting of the two top seeds in the Western Conference. Oklahoma City extended its regular-season winning streak to 11 games and improved to a league-best 14-5 against teams .500 or better.

With the win, the Thunder (26-5) also extended its lead at the top of the conference to a season-high five games. The No. 2 Grizzlies and No. 3 Houston Rockets have each lost 11 games and trail in the season series against Oklahoma City, which has beaten every opponent it has lost to.

The matchups between competing teams are subtle compared to the standings, as any two teams can face each other a maximum of five times in 82 games. The Thunder finished last season as No. 1 by winning the head-to-head tiebreaker (3-1) over the Denver Nuggets, creating an objective difference between the two teams at 57 wins.

Oklahoma City stayed at No. 1 on the list for most of the season, as the Golden State Warriors briefly led the conference from November 19-22. The Thunder have maintained their position since finishing in first place in November. 25, with four different teams – Warriors, Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and Grizzlies – moving into second place over the last five weeks.

From an overall standings perspective, the 2024-25 season was a benevolent change for Oklahoma City after the chaos of the previous year. The Thunder, Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves ended up in a three-way race to the top, with each team staying at or tied for No. 1 for at least a month. After being the absolute No. 3 seed for a week in April, Oklahoma City secured first place on the final day of the regular season.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have held the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, starting the year with 15 straight wins and extending their lead to a season-high 4.5 games this week. Last year’s Boston Celtics took over first place from the Philadelphia 76ers on November 15, 2023, had a two-game lead over the Milwaukee Bucks at the start of the new year and ended up winning the conference by 14 games over the New York Knicks.

The Thunder take on the Timberwolves tomorrow at 7:00 PM CST. It will be the second game of a five-game homestand.

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