And just like that, we're a quarter of the way into the NBA season. Some of the popular preseason conventional wisdom has so far proven true (the defending champs are loaded), while there have been other developments that few saw coming (the rise of the Pistons and Suns , the complete collapse of the Clippers ).

With a solid sample size to draw from, here's our first Contender Tiers installment of the season.

Tier 1: Undisputed Heavyweight Champs

Oklahoma City Thunder (21-1)

A season ago, the Thunder won 68 games. They lost just eight times at home -- including the playoffs. They had the best defense in the league by a significant margin. How significant? The gap between their top-ranked defensive rating (106.6) and No. 2 Orlando (109.1) was roughly the same as the gap between

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