On Sunday, the Oklahoma City Thunder became the fourth team in NBA history to start 20-1 or better. Only the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors were unblemished through 21 games, and they extended that season-opening winning streak to 24 en route to a record 73-win season.

The Thunder are on pace to break that record, though the grind of the long season will likely push them to more than 10 losses, just like it has for all but two teams in NBA history.

Some have already debated whether the current Thunder would win a playoff series against the 2016-17 Warriors. Others are weighing whether OKC can win 74 games.

Both are fun exercises, but I wanted to go in a different direction.

Which team’s start was more impressive: the 20-1 Thunder’s or the 24-0 Warriors’?

I investigate.

Point Differential

Through 24 games, the Warriors’ point differential was plus-14.2 per game. The Thunder’s is plus-15.5 per game. Advantage OKC, but note that both teams were so dominant that they rested starters for entire fourth quarters, so it’s hard to find definitive numbers.

Cleaning the Glass, which filters our garbage time, has the Thunder’s net rating at plus-17.0, while the Warriors’ was plus-16.1 through 24 games.

That the Thunder are better despite having a loss is impressive. They’ve been slightly more dominant.

Strength of Victory

Entering Tuesday, the Thunder are 6-0 against teams above .500.

Entering their 25th game against the Bucks, the Warriors were 11-0 against above-.500 teams.

With three of their next four coming against under.-500 teams after Tuesday, the Thunder won’t catch up quickly either.

So this is advantage Warriors, though one could argue it’s closer than you think because every team nowadays is more prolific from three-point range, and thus it’s easier to run into wild three-point shooting variance that can lead to more upsets.

During the first 24 games of the 2015-16 season, the Warriors averaged the most three-point attempts per game in the NBA with 31.0. This season, the team with the fewest three-point attempts per game (Sacramento) averages 30.9.

In OKC’s only loss, the Trail Blazers made 19 threes. In Golden State’s 24-0 start, only three opponents made more than 10, and the high-water opponent mark was 14 made by the Pacers.

Which Schedule Had More Back-to-Backs?

The Thunder have had three back-to-backs, and only one was a double-road-game back-to-back, which they lost.

The Bucks game was Golden State’s seventh back-to-back and its fourth double-road back-to-back.

Essentially, more games were jammed into the beginning of the 2015-16 Golden State calendar because the season started later a decade ago. The Warriors’ first game came on Oct. 27, while the Thunder’s came on Oct. 21.

There’s no two ways about it: The 2015-16 Warriors had a more grueling early-season schedule.

Jalen Williams’ Injury

It is impessive that the Thunder have started 20-1 with only two appearances from a player who signed a five-year, $240 million contract this offseason.

But it has to be said that Williams had the team’s worst net-rating swing last year. He’s a great player, but the Thunder are so deep that they don’t lose much without him.

If the Thunder kept winning without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Chet Holmgren, then I’d have that weigh much more heavily in this debate.

Verdict

The 2015-16 Warriors and the 2025-26 Thunder have perhaps the two most impressive starts in NBA history. Both have good arguments that theirs was more impessive.

Of course, the Warriors didn’t have a loss, which will end the argument for some.

The Thunder can counter with a better point differential and an injury to an All-NBA player to claim theirs was better.

What tips the scales is the more grueling schedule.

The Warriors won the back end of a back-to-back six times in that 24-0 stretch, and none was a double-home-game back-to-back. Three were double road games, and three were one home and one road in either order.

Even great teams are supposed to lose some of those, but the Warriors would not be denied until playing another double-road-game back-to-back on the tail end of a seven-game road trip.

So that settles it. The 2015-16 Warriors had a more impressive start.