For the 12th time since 2010, the Oklahoma City Thunder have captured its spot in the playoff stage, setting them as the team with the second-most playoff appearances in that span – trailing behind the Boston Celtics, which is the team they defeated last Wednesday to clinch the postseason.

However, this just shadows what the Thunder has been able to achieve this season so far. It is shaping to be the best in franchise history and may well be on the pace for a whopping total of 70 wins, and it says a lot about how successful it has been for them now more than ever. That all came to fruition even in a season full of injuries to the team, and that’s just a massive thing to see.

Sure, the Cleveland Cavaliers are breaking records too, but the Thunder have become really a dominant force in the Western Conference, and stand at 22-1 against the Eastern Conference – losing only once to the Cavs. Now more than ever, this is a landmark campaign for the Thunder, and one can expect to see more from the team as they try to run it back and finally win it all.

A Massive Win Versus Boston

The Thunder came into Boston coming off a 140-127 loss to the Denver Nuggets in their second night of a doubleheader. OKC rode into the road trip without one of its All-Stars Jalen Williams and a defensive stalwart in Alex Caruso. The Celtics, on the other hand, were missing the services of Kristaps Porzingis, but were riding on a five-game winning streak nevertheless.

OKC and Boston battled it out for most of the game, and neither team was giving up a significant lead – at least until the second half when the Thunder turned up the ante and went on to shut down Boston’s three-point shooting, which helped them close out a massive victory on the road.

That win allowed OKC to become the only Western Conference team to beat the Celtics twice, and the only team to sweep the season series against the defending champions. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had an efficient MVP night of 34 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists on 11-20 shooting, but it cannot be denied that Chet Holmgren’s 23-point, 15-rebound night proved to be a pivotal factor in helping OKC set up a fantastic victory against a great team.

What’s Next For OKC?

OKC now continues its final road trip in the Eastern Conference, with showdowns against the red-hot Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks in the next two games before returning home. The Thunder is on the pace to break the 60-22 record set by the 2012-13 iteration of the team, and they still even have 16 games left to play in the season, which means they can also go for 70 wins.

The Thunder have waited for quite some time to see yet another iteration of the team that can compete at this level, which says a lot about the consistency of the team. Now all the hope for the team is to keep up this level of play, and finally secure an NBA Finals appearance for the first time since 2012.

Who knows, maybe the Oklahoma City Thunder will also get to score an NBA Finals win for the first time ever since moving to OKC. They do share the same history with the now defunct Seattle Supersonics, but one can say that since moving into Oklahoma since 2008, the Thunder has seen a better history than its predecessor so far.