#7 – Oklahoma City Thunder
Unlike many of the teams in this mix, the Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the few that haven’t been all that remarkable of late. They’re just 6-4 in their last 10, but in their defense, three of those four losses were to pretty dang good teams – the Blazers, Cavs and Golden State Warriors. Their other loss in the last ten was to the Lakers, who have been surging of late.
Still, the Thunder have been as Jekyll and Hyde as they come and their defense has suffered with the loss of Andre Roberson. Not to mention, their remaining schedule is scary enough that one can’t help but be concerned about whether or not the Thunder will have enough juice to overcome their woes and sneak into the playoffs:
- 3/6 vs. Houston
- 3/8 vs. Phoenix
- 3/10 vs. San Antonio
- 3/12 vs. Sacramento
- 3/13 at Atlanta
- 3/16 vs. LA Clippers
- 3/18 at Toronto
- 3/20 at Boston
- 3/23 vs. Miami
- 3/25 vs. Portland
- 3/29 at San Antonio
- 3/30 vs. Denver
- 4/1 at New Orleans
- 4/3 vs. Golden State
- 4/7 at Houston
- 4/9 at Miami
- 4/11 vs. Memphis
There’s a few cushy games in there, to be sure, but between three games against the West’s top two teams and several bouts against worthy playoff foes, including many of the closest Western Conference opponents grappling for position, it’s not going to be an easy close for the Thunder. Even though OKC is still a full game ahead of the eighth-place Nuggets, if they’re not careful and continue their inconsistent ways, they could be in a precarious situation sooner rather than later.
Honestly, I think the Thunder will find a way to squeak in. But then again, if Utah, Denver and LA all get hot at the right time and OKC gets complacent, their playoff bid will be far from a guarantee.