As the NBA regular season enters its final quarter, one statement remains more true than ever: The Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers have been juggernauts since play began at the end of October.

Oklahoma City, which sits 10.5 games above the No. 2 Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference standings, won its first seven games of the season — all by double-digits. It entered 2025 with five losses and has not lost more than four games in any month.

The Thunder has cruised to a league-low 105.9 raw defensive rating thanks to perimeter and interior stalwarts up and down the roster. The team’s No. 4 raw offensive rating (118.4) stems from All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who has recorded more 50-point performances than games with under 20 points this season.

NBA on TNT analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley praised the Thunder’s successful season on Thursday night.

“Oklahoma City got the MVP and they are on fire,” Barkley said.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the current favorite for the award due to his league-leading 32.8 points per game on excellent efficiency and how well the Thunder performs with him on the floor.

The Cavaliers have established that they are no slouches either, starting the season with 15 consecutive victories and racking up a current 12-game winning streak. January contained five losses, including a 15-point home loss to the Indiana Pacers and a 20-point road blowout against the Thunder, but Cleveland still has a league-best 52-10 record.

Barkley said the Thunder and Cavaliers have been the NBA’s two best stories this year — and juxtaposed them with two teams who made major deadline moves and have performed well in the last month.

Los Angeles has won eight straight games since pairing Luka Doncic with LeBron James, and the No. 6 Golden State Warriors have won eight of nine after adding Jimmy Butler to Stephen Curry’s heroics. Both squads could pose problems for conference foes during the regular season and playoffs with their new superstar duos.

Still, Barkley showed animosity to ESPN and analyst Kendrick Perkins for framing these new-look rosters as NBA saviors despite multiple teams performing like champions over a much longer time frame.

“Congrats to the Lakers and the Warriors — they’ve had two good weeks,” Barkley said. “The Cavs and OKC have had six great months.”

Barkley’s math is slightly erroneous, but time will tell who the true contenders are.

The shorthanded Thunder faces the Portland Trail Blazers in Paycom Center tonight at 7 p.m. CST.

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