The Oklahoma City Thunder have won seven straight games to not only pass the Phoenix Suns for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference but also take a three-game lead on them that at this point and that already seems like an insurmountable gap. They’ll have the opportunity to build on that too as they visit the Suns on Thursday. In fact, the chances the Thunder make the postseason have skyrocketed and suddenly the focus has shifted from whether or not they will make it to how high they can climb. Oklahoma City’s run has helped them close the gap to just 2.5 games behind the San Antonio Spurs for seventh place and five games back of the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers. With a number of Western Conference team stumbling and the Thunder heating up, they could finish a lot higher than eighth if they continue to play at the level they are playing at right now.
Spurs Are Stumbling
The Spurs are next in Oklahoma City’s path and they certainly haven’t done much of late to make anyone think they can hold the Thunder off. San Antonio has lost three straight and is just a .500 team over its past 10 games with their Rodeo Road Trip getting off to a rough start. The Spurs have never posted a losing record since they began taking this late season road trip back in 2003 but with Kawhi Leonard struggling to find his form and neither Tony Parker or Manu Ginobili playing at an exceptionally high level, there are major question marks there. Head coach Gregg Popovich is once again dealing with the delicate balance between playing for position in the standings and keeping his veterans rested and San Antonio’s hold on seventh in the West certainly looks vulnerable now.
Trail Blazers, Mavericks And Clippers All Have Flaws
Only three games above the Spurs sits a group of four teams fighting for fourth in the Western Conference in the Blazers, Mavericks and Clippers, and every one of these teams is vulnerable to slide. Los Angeles is missing Blake Griffin and they looked like they had some chemistry issues before that. As for Dallas, there seems to be a riff between Rajon Rondo and head coach Rick Carlisle in Dallas and regardless, Rondo hasn’t had the impact they had expected. And while Portland is healthy and fine – at least physically and mentally – they have still struggled in the standings, dropping two straight and six of 10. While Arron Afflalo could help give them a boost (they rank 28th in bench scoring) he can’t solve all of their issues.
Oklahoma City is one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now and if they continue at this pace it will only be a matter of time before they find themselves jockeying for position with this group of three teams battling for the fourth seed and home court advantage for the opening playoff round.
Can Durant Stay Healthy?
Perhaps the biggest obstacle still in the Thunder’s way for climbing the standings any further isn’t the teams in front of them but instead the health of their own team. Kevin Durant has been in and out of the lineup all year and he underwent a procedure to replace a screw in his surgically repaired right foot that will keep him out another week. Fortunately for Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook has played at an MVP level at times this season and the supporting cast has stepped up as well lately. This team looks ridiculous deep as now Enes Kanter has stepped in and is providing double-digit scoring from the center position, which was really the only weak link on the team.
A very difficult set of back-to-back games against Phoenix and Portland will challenge the Thunder without Durant but if they can find a way to get a pair of wins, it will vault them right in to the mix for fourth in the West.
So while this team was written off very early on and then in the middle of the season, it looked like barely getting into the playoffs would be an achievement, now it looks like they’ll be in decent shape by the time the second season tips off.
