The Thunder and Cavaliers have a commanding lead in their conferences, but they’re focused on a bigger goal

The Eastern Conference is almost decided, and the Western Conference is even more certain. The NBA hasn’t seen a situation like this in almost 40 years.

With all the focus on NCAA brackets this week (by the way, here are some tips for the men’s and women’s tournaments), it’s safe to predict Cleveland will finish as the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and Oklahoma City will finish as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. It’s not fully confirmed yet, but let’s be honest, neither team is likely to lose their position.

It’s not out of the question that both the Cavaliers and the Thunder could end up winning their conferences by at least 10 games. This has happened in one conference many times before, but it’s been almost four decades since both conferences had such a large difference in the standings in the same season.

In the 1985-86 season, Boston won the East by 10 games, and the Los Angeles Lakers won the West by 11 games.

As of Monday, Cleveland was leading the East by 7 1/2 games. Oklahoma City led the West by 13 games, with 14 games left to play — so, when you do the math, the West is practically decided. The East is nearly finished too.

Oklahoma City’s coach Mark Daigneault talked about the team’s chemistry

“We’ve really formed a nice chemistry on the court. Great blend. Guys are playing to their strengths.”

The Thunder have earned respect across the league — and from Las Vegas too. BetMGM Sportsbook lists Oklahoma City as a heavy favorite to win the West and to take the NBA title. The West is full of strong teams, yet Oklahoma City has a chance to become the first team to win the regular season title by 15 or more games since Golden State in 1975-76.

The Thunder are winning by an average of 12.4 points per game. This is on track to be the best point-differential in NBA history, and that’s a big deal.

It’s worth mentioning that the next five teams with the best point-differentials per game in NBA history — the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (12.3), the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (12.3), the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (12.2), the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors (11.6), and last season’s Boston Celtics (11.3) — all won the NBA championship that season.

Milwaukee’s guard Damian Lillard said, “They are who they are. They defend, they move the ball, they’ve got a deep team, they do a lot of good things on both sides of the ball.”

Interestingly, Cleveland — which still has the best record in the NBA at 56-11, a team that outscored opponents by “only” 11 points per game (which would be the eighth-best in league history) and had winning streaks of 12, 15, and 16 games this season — isn’t getting the same amount of respect from the bookmakers.

The Cavs aren’t favored to win the NBA title — they aren’t even favored to win the East. BetMGM has Boston as the favorite in the East. Cleveland isn’t bothered by this; they know their strengths and believe it will be enough when it matters most.

They know the true test will come in the playoffs

“We haven’t done nothing yet,” said Cleveland guard Darius Garland. “Regular season means something to us, but winning that ring, that’s what really matters to us.”

By the way, big conference leads are usually a sign that a championship could be coming.

Since the 1986-87 season, only one team that won its conference by 10 or more games failed to win the NBA championship: Detroit in 2005-06, which won the East by 12 games but watched Miami win the title that year.

Other teams that won by big margins and took home the NBA title include Boston, who won the East by 14 games last year, Golden State, who won the West by 11 games in 2014-15, Miami, who won the East by 12 games in 2012-13, the Lakers, who won the West by 11 games in 2008-09, and Chicago, who won the East by 12 games in 1995-96 and 10 games in 1991-92. Both times, they won the title. The Lakers also won the West by 10 games in 1986-87 and captured the championship that year.

The Thunder are aiming to join that group. The Cavaliers could do the same. Neither team is focused on just the No. 1 seed or the large margin in their conference race. They are playing for something more significant.

“We’re not letting go of the rope,” said Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson, “mentally or physically.”