After the trials and tribulations of last season, even the most optimistic Phoenix Suns fans couldn’t have predicted the 6-1 start the organization jumped to. Many factors have played a role in making this happen – and some things are 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 great performances of Kevin Durant, or even a rookie in Ryan Dunn that was the perfect addition to this roster. It’s not even like Devin Booker is approaching midseason form and looking as efficient as ever. It’s all those things combined, and then some.

The Thunder are currently the only team looking down on the Suns in the Western Conference, with a perfect 7-0 record. Even more damaging to the Valley’s hopes, the Thunder also had a tough postseason experience last season, getting bumped by the Dallas Mavericks in the Conference Semifinals.

In another key difference from the Suns, they had the financial flexibility to go out and make changes to their roster to improve it. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein were brought in this summer to compliment an MVP candidate in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. So they now have some painful play-off experience to accumulate, plus the necessary reinforcements to be better in 2025.

All of this has left the Thunder with a scary record that should worry the Suns. No team has ever won its first seven games by more than 10 points without losing a single match. That was until the Thunder did just that with their 102-86 victory over an Orlando Magic team that doesn’t look nearly as scary as it did a week ago.

The level of opposition the Thunder have faced during this record-breaking winning streak has been quite impressive – although on a similar level to that of the Suns – with the only loss coming at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Thunder defeated the Denver Nuggets, and even though they don’t look like they used to, that’s no small feat.

They’ve also defeated an LA Clippers team that the Suns already have two wins over, although their win over the San Antonio Spurs may have been the most impressive of them all so far. They may be a rebuilding squad, but it was the way they managed to reduce phenom Victor Wembanyama to six points in 28 minutes that will have caught the eye.

The Suns dropped a few games to Spurs this time last year – this basically set the tone for the entire season – and it was revealed early on that they were struggling to contain bigger players who had the potential to dominate inside . Not that center Jusuf Nurkic has doubled down on that part of the pitch so far this season.

By keeping Wembanyama quiet, the Thunder have shown that they have the players Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Lu Dort and Jalen Williams (Hartenstein has not played yet due to injury) to keep any opponent quiet. The sample size is small, but it’s not surprising that their defensive rating of 93.8 is not only the best mark in the league, but also the best of all time.

That’s what makes the meeting between the Suns and Thunder later this month such an important game. It has the added bonus of being an Emirates NBA Cup match – and if the Suns manage to get a win against the West’s most popular team yet this season – then they will be truly for real.