29 wins and 1 loss to the East! The Thunder s rare opponent in the East, the Cavaliers Knicks become the last fortress

The Oklahoma City Thunder performed very well last season. In the entire regular season and playoffs, few teams were able to beat them, and almost no team in the East could challenge them. The only teams that brought them some troubles include the Cleveland Cavaliers, who ranked first in the East in the regular season and the Indiana Pacers who successfully reached the NBA Finals.

In the offseason of the 2025-26 season, the Thunder's purpose is obvious, they retain all the core players and their roster has a full summer to prepare for the new season. In contrast, most teams in the East have experienced turmoil, and the situation of strong West and weak East is becoming increasingly obvious. According to ESPN's well-known journalists Tim Bondang and Wo Shen, the East is currently in one of the worst situations ever.

With the injury of Jason Tatum, the Pacers were affected by the injury of Tyres Halliburton, Damian Lillard left the Bucks to return to the Portland Trail Blazers after a torn Achilles tendon. Currently, only two teams in the East may have the strength to compete with the top teams in the West.

The most obvious team is the Cavaliers, who achieved the second record in the league last season and brought back almost all core players in the offseason, and the New York Knicks, who hired Mike Brown as the new head coach. But neither of these two teams is unlikely to beat top Western Conference teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoff series. After all, the Thunder achieved a 1 loss record against the Eastern Conference team in the regular season last season, only losing to the Cavaliers in 1 game.

If the respective star of the Celtics and Pacers can fully recover this season, the East is a completely different story, but for now, it seems impossible to find a team that can create a threat to top Western teams, including the Thunder.