By the numbers: Cavaliers vs. Thunder an NBA Finals preview?

Every year there are a few regular-season games that just mean more. Matchups worthy of everyone's focus.

When the Oklahoma City Thunder (30-5) visit the Cleveland Cavaliers (31-4) on Wednesday, for example, it's a showdown that not only requires the attention of basketball fans, it demands it.

Here are some reasons:
• 15-game win streak (OKC) vs. 10-game win streak (CLE): first time in NBA history
• Third time ever teams with .850-plus win percentages meet this late into a season
• No. 1 and No. 2 records in the league, both teams top-10 on offence and defence

While the cross-conference squads get ready to face off for the first of two regular-season contests, both in the next eight days, they give people every reason to believe you'll be watching a preview of the NBA Finals come June. And although the holidays may be over, this matchup could end up being the gift that keeps on giving if that were to happen.

We'll get our first taste of it Wednesday, when action tips off on Sportsnet+ at 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT. In the meantime, here are some more key numbers to tee up the blockbuster game.

No. 1 offence vs. No. 1 defence

What truly reigns supreme in today's NBA? Is it elite bucket-getting in a points-driven era or does defence still win championships? If there's a matchup to act as a litmus test, it's this one.

Cleveland's No. 1 offence leads the NBA in field goal (50.4) and three-point (40.4) percentage while scoring the second-most points per game (122.5). During its current 10-game win streak — its second-longest of the year after starting 15-0 — Cleveland has ragdolled opponents by an average of 15.7 points per game. They've proved it not just against bottom-feeders either, as the Cavaliers have gone 7-1 against top-10 defences (of which they're a part) while averaging 119.4 points.

Ahead of taking on OKC, the Cavs will also feel confident knowing they've started a flawless 10-0 against the West, putting up a stellar 129.7 points per game in the process.

Yet, if there's a team that's equally certain of themselves and their chances of stopping Cleveland's top offence, it's the Thunder. Their No. 1 defence allows the fewest points per game (103.0) while holding opponents to league lows in field goal (42.6) and three-point (32.7) percentage. Against top 10 offences (of which they're a part), OKC has gone 8-2 while holding teams to 104.7 points per game.

And if we're talking about a proven track record, how about shutting down the league's No. 3- and No. 2-ranked offences — the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics — in the two games leading up to Wednesday? The Thunder held the defending-champion Celtics to a season-low 92 points on Sunday as Boston scored just 27 in the entire second half while going 8-of-40 from the field.

What happens when an unstoppable force like Cleveland's offence meets an immovable object like OKC's defence? We'll find out.

Could two teams win 70 games this season?

It's wild to think that both of these teams could eclipse a mark achieved only twice before in league history. But it feels fitting. Everything about this matchup seems to be enveloped in a cloud of rare air. Case in point: it's just the second time in league history that two teams have started a season 30-5, or better — the last time being over half a century ago.

Currently, the Thunder are on on track for 70 wins, and the Cavaliers are pacing at 72. If those trends lasted, it'd be the first time in NBA history that two teams hit that 70-win mark in the same season.

Both squads are, unsurprisingly, boasting historic net ratings (the stat measures a team's point differential per 100 possessions) along the way. Cleveland's 11.5 rating would be seventh all-time — right behind two championship squads in the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors and last year's Celtics at 11.6 — with each team ahead of them on that list winning at least 64 games. Oklahoma City's 12.1 mark would be second only to the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls who won 72 games.

For either team to reach that historic milestone, they'll have to get through each other.

In a season that's been driven by a narrative of parity, a title race that feels wide-open, these two squads have cemented themselves above the rest. Yes, the West is a gauntlet with just five games separating the No. 2 through No. 9 seeds, but OKC is seven games clear of that log-jam. Out East, yes, the Celtics remain formidable, but the Cavaliers have beaten them once already and are 5.5 games ahead atop the conference.

We won't know for sure if what we're going to watch Wednesday night is indeed a preview of the NBA Finals until it all unfolds in June. But what we do know is if they face off in the post-season, it will be with the Larry O'Brien trophy on the line.

High stakes, plenty of action and two undeniably impressive squads. Let's hoop.