After the trials and tribulations of last season, even the most optimistic of Phoenix Suns fans couldn't have predicted the 6-1 start that the organization have jumped out to. There's been many factors at play for this to happen - and some things actively working against them - which is a great sign for this group.
It's not just a new head coach in Mike Budenholzer, or the continued amazing displays of Kevin Durant, or even a rookie in Ryan Dunn who was the perfect addition to this roster. It's not even that Devin Booker is rounding into midseason form, and is looking as efficient as ever. It is all of those things combined, and then some.
Yet it still isn't enough to overtake the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Thunder are currently the only team looking down on the Suns in the Western Conference, with a perfect 7-0 record. Even more detrimental to the hopes of The Valley, the Thunder also had a chastising postseason experience of their own last season, getting bumped by the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Semifinals.
In another key difference to the Suns they had the financial flexibility to go out and make changes to their roster to improve, bringing in Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein this summer to compliment an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. So they now have some wounding playoff experience to rally around, plus the necessary reinforcements to be better in 2025.
All of this has combined to give the Thunder a fearsome record that should have the Suns concerned. No team has ever won their first seven games - without posting a single loss - by more than 10 points. That was, until the Thunder did just that with their 102-86 victory over an Orlando Magic outfit that doesn't look nearly as scary as they did a week ago.
The level of opponent the Thunder have faced throughout this record-breaking win streak is pretty impressive - although it is on a similar level to that of the Suns - whose only loss has come at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder though have beaten the Denver Nuggets, and even though they don't look like they used to, that is not nothing.
They've also beaten up on an L.A. Clippers team that the Suns have already enjoyed two victories over, although there win over the San Antonio Spurs may have been the most impressive of all to this point. They might be a rebuilding roster, but it was how they managed to reduce phenom Victor Wembanyama to six points in 28 minutes that will have caught the eye.
Draymond is making a strong DPOY case early on 🚫 pic.twitter.com/LY4ky5e3if
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) November 2, 2024
The Suns dropped a pair of games to the Spurs around this time last year - really this set the tone for the whole season - and it was revealed early that they struggled to contain bigger players who had the potential to dominate inside. Not that center Jusuf Nurkic has doubled down on that area of the court so far this season.
In keeping Wembanyama quiet, the Thunder have shown they have the players in Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort and Jalen Williams (Hartenstein hasn't played yet because of injury) to keep any kind of opponent quiet. The sample size is small, but unsurprisingly their defensive rating of 93.8 is not only the best mark in the league, it would go down as easily the best of all-time.
Which makes the meeting between the Suns and Thunder later this month such an important matchup. It has the added spice of being an Emirates NBA Cup game - and if the Suns can manage to pull out a win against the hottest team out West so far this season - then they truly will be for real.