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**OKLAHOMA CITY**— The Oklahoma City Thunder have made a remarkable mark as NBA champions, showcasing both their exceptional youth and impressive dominance.
With their roster averaging just 25.6 years in age, the Thunder are historically the second youngest championship team in the NBA, trailing only the 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers.
In addition to their youthful core, they also ranked ninth in the league for the proportion of regular-season minutes played by rookies or second-year athletes, accounting for 23%. Notably, none of the eight teams ahead of them in this category qualified for the playoffs, with the 36-46 Blazers being the best among them.
Despite the NBA Finals extending over seven games, the Thunder are statistically recognized as one of the greatest teams in league history.
Here are three key statistics about the 2024-25 NBA champions:
The Thunder have become only the fourth squad in NBA history to complete a season with 84 victories, joining elite company with the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (88-18), the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (87-13), and the ’96-97 Bulls (84-17).
Throughout their 105-game campaign, the Thunder posted an astounding point differential, outscoring their opponents by 1,243 points—an unprecedented margin in NBA history.
Their average differential of 11.8 points per game rates fourth all-time, significantly ahead of the fifth-place 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.
**Teams with an average point differential of 10+ points per game in NBA history:**
The Thunder set a new league record by achieving 12 victories by 30 points or more, combining both regular-season and playoff results, and they are the only team ever to achieve multiple playoff wins by 40 points or greater.
In terms of defense, the Thunder were unparalleled during the regular season, allowing 2.5 fewer points per 100 possessions compared to the second-best Orlando Magic. This gap marks the second-largest distinction between the top two defensive teams over the last 29 seasons for which play-by-play data is available.
During the playoffs, the Thunder restricted the Memphis Grizzlies and Denver Nuggets to 19.6 and 15.0 fewer points per 100 possessions, respectively, than they had in the regular season, registering the second and thirteenth largest differentials in playoff history across 870 series.
Their defensive prowess was fueled by a superb blend of turnover creation and effective rim protection:
In the Finals, the 108.1 points per 100 possessions scored by the Pacers were 9.6 points fewer than their average from the first three playoff rounds. The Thunder sealed their championship with an outstanding defensive display, limiting the Pacers to merely 91 points on 92 possessions in Game 7—only the second instance all playoffs where Indiana fell below a point per possession.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP title, averaging 30.3 points during the 2025 NBA Finals.
He is the first player in a quarter-century to capture the regular-season MVP, scoring title, and Finals MVP in the same year.
Gilgeous-Alexander is also just the fourth player in NBA history to average at least 30 points per game for a championship team across both the regular season and playoffs, joining legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1970-71), Rick Barry (1974-75), and Michael Jordan (four times).
Among the seven instances of this achievement, Gilgeous-Alexander showcased remarkable efficiency, being the top scorer and leading in assists:
**30 points per game (combined regular season and playoffs) for NBA champions, historically**
Effective Field Goal Percentage (eFG%) = (Field Goals Made + (0.5 * Three-Point Field Goals Made)) / Field Goals Attempted
True Shooting Percentage (TS%) = Points / (2 * (Field Goals Attempted + (0.44 * Free Throws Attempted)))
This achievement marks the 24th occurrence (featuring 13 different players) of a player averaging at least 32 points per game across more than 80 games in total. Gilgeous-Alexander’s true shooting percentage of 62.2% stands as the highest in those 24 seasons.
His 15 playoff games scoring 30 points or more is just one shy of the record jointly held by Michael Jordan (16 in 1992) and Hakeem Olajuwon (16 in 1995). Moreover, his tally of 12 playoff games with at least 30 points and five assists sets a new benchmark for any player in a single postseason.
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John Schuhmann serves as a senior statistics analyst for NBA.com. You can reach him via email, access his archive, and follow him on X.
The opinions expressed on this page do not necessarily represent those of the NBA, its teams, or Warner Bros. Discovery.
