Thunder in the News: Difficult stretch begins with injuries looming

Welcome to OKC Thunder in the news for Friday, March 16 with the focus on the final 12 games of the season.

Tonight marks the start of the OKC Thunder embarking on arguably their most difficult schedule segment. OKC will play 11 teams either currently seeded or fighting for postseason berths. Moreover, five of those matches feature teams currently seeded in the top three of their respective conferences.

How the OKC Thunder navigate this segment of their schedule will determine if they make the playoffs. More importantly it will determine what seed they will garner.

Just to emphasize how volatile the  west is Thursday morning the bottom four seeds in the west were the Pelicans, Wolves, Clippers and Jazz. After last night’s matches the bottom portion of the playoff bracket completely changed. With the Pelicans loss to San Antonio it dropped the Pelicans to sixth and moved the Spurs back on the ladder in eighth. Likewise, the Clippers loss dropped them off the ladder into the ninth seed. The inactive Wolves and Jazz benefitted by and each moved up a spot on the ladder to fifth and seventh respectively.

OKC Thunder enter hardest strength of schedule in NBA:

Suffice to say, every day from now until season end will offer as much drama as the postseason. For the OKC Thunder facing top tier squads has brought out their best efforts.

The big question is how much of a toll these 11 games will take on the team. Moreover, will this serve as the perfect preparation for the playoffs or conversely, will it exhaust the squad. Regardless of the answer, the Thunder have no choice but to excel so take a deep breath Thunder Nation and prepare for a month of wild ups and downs (hopefully the former).

For those interested in a complete breakdown of the teams vying for fourth through eighth seeds check out my deep dive on the subject. I’m already feeling a little braggadocious as my prediction of Denver and LA falling off the ladder has happened (at least as of today).

Not too soon to look ahead:

Thunderous Intentions scribe Ted Dower produced a must read on a subject no Thunder fan wants to think about. The potential of having to replace yet another exiting star. Nonetheless, his list of potential players to target offers some intriguing food for thought.

"But the reality is like the old adage, “if you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail.” Thunder fans can say this with more conviction than most after Kevin Durant ruined July 4th for the state of Oklahoma in 2016."

Adams and George status:

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• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Every time Steven Adams gets a bump or bruise it only serves to highlight the most glaring roster hole.

OKC can ill afford to lose Adams for any major stretch. Dakari Johnson (while a nice prospect) simply doesn’t have the goods to fill in.

Inarguably, this falls on Billy Donovan who refuses to give his youngster much playing time. Perhaps Donovan felt there wasn’t opportunity, but I beg to differ.

This situation is only pronounced because the Thunder coach hasn’t (at least in this scribe’s opinion) managed his roster and playing time well this season.

Entering tonight’s game there is uncertainty whether Adams or Paul George who both sustained hip contusions will play. George has indicated he will, but fans likely won’t learn until shoot around if Adams is in the lineup.

Related: The Kiwi Bible – complete guide to Steven Adams

Health becomes major factor in stretch run:

Injuries are something teams all hope to avoid, but sustaining them at this time of year is the worst case scenario unless an ample padding was built earlier.

Celtics hit hard:

For example, the Boston Celtics have been hit hard with Kyrie Irving dealing with knee soreness, Marcus Smart (thumb), Al Horford (illness), Jaylen Brown (concussion protocol) and Daniel Theis (knee – lost for season) all out.

Warriors lucky they built padding:

Likewise a scan of the Warriors injury list features nine players potentially out for their next game.  Klay Thompson is out with a fracture to his thumb. Thompson joins starters Curry (ankle),  Draymond Green (shoulder) and Kevin Durant (rib soreness) on the list.  Also injured, David West (cyst in arm), Patrick McCaw (wrist fracture), Quinn Cook (hand) and Jordan Bell (ankle).

It’s hard to even fathom the Thunder having nine players potentially out given their roster depth.

Never count out those Spurs:

Conversely, players returning from injury could have a major impact. For example if the playoffs started today the San Antonio Spurs would play the Houston Rockets. Imagine you are James Harden and your team fought to get the best NBA seed only to have to face Gregg Popovich and oh yeah this guy…

https://twitter.com/shiftrefresh/status/973563923138883584

Pray for health:

And, this again speaks to this crazy unprecedented 11 games out of 12 stretch which the OKC Thunder’s season will be decided by. Fortunately, there is that guy Russell Westbrook to turn to, but ideally OKC utilize this period to build momentum and confidence to take into the playoffs.

So Thunder Nation pray for health — it’s essential.

Next: All-Time OKC Top Scorers

That wraps up OKC Thunder in the news for Friday, March 16. Tonight begins a flurry of games versus playoff seeds which will affect the eventual positioning of the Thunder.  We invite you to interact with us during the game on twitter and to comment on our post game grades following the match.

Make sure to bookmark Thunderous Intentions and visit us daily for the amazing team of scribes who’ll keep you in the loop on all things Thunder.