Thunder in the News: Questionable calls help maintain winning streak

The closer we get to the end of the season, the more realistic an OKC Thunder Playoff birth becomes. Yesterday’s win against the Toronto Raptors only confirms that.

Yesterday was an incredible win for the Oklahoma City Thunder – I firmly believe that. They went into the Eastern Conference’s best teams’ home court, dropping 132 points in the process en route to their sixth straight win. The OKC Thunder offense (mostly the starters) truly looked elite – it was a clear sign that this team has figured out one side of the floor.

Now it’s about putting it together on the defensive end.

Raptors rightfully frustrated by officiating

Before we get to that, however, we need to talk about the obvious from yesterday: the officiating was terrible…for both teams. It’s a shame that such a closely contested game was diminished by a couple calls in crunch-time.

OKC benefit the most from the inconsistent calls solely because they were the benefactors at the end of the game. As my compadre from Tip of the Tower David Morasetti notes, Toronto had a significant reason to be upset, especially with the plethora of ejections at the end of the game.

Sunday afternoon was Oklahoma City’s best performance of the post-All-Star Break season. It’s a shame the referee’s inserted themselves at the end instead of letting the two talented teams battle it out.

"Officiating can have an impact and it is such a shame, because fans pay to watch the game rather than the sideshow referees seem to enjoy being a part of."

Oklahoma City is coming together at the right time

And now we can return to celebrating the current six-game win streak. As you can see below, it’s almost guaranteed that the Thunder will make the Playoffs. The stretch-run is still brutal, and the seeds are still close, but as long as Oklahoma City keeps playing this way we should be enjoying Thunder basketball into late April.

Tim Cato detailed what’s different with this team compared to the one we watched struggle only a few weeks ago. Here’s a hint: his initials are C.B.

"According to FiveThirtyEight, in fact, the Thunder are all but locked in — they grade their odds at 99 percent."

The internal seeding discussion begins

Rounding things up is an interesting discussion that will be discussed over the coming weeks. The Thunder could play any number of teams in the first round of the Playoffs. Ultimately I don’t believe who they play will make a difference in the outcome of a series – it’s the second round where things get interesting.

Houston or Golden State will be waiting in round two. The question is whether you want to face a healthy, rolling Rockets team or an injured yet historic Warriors squad. I personally side with option #1. Houston hasn’t proven themselves in the Playoffs, nor are they the Golden State Warriors. While I wouldn’t bet on the Thunder to pull off the upset, it’s much more likely they do it against the Rockets.

That’s it for today’s issue of Thunder in the News! We’ve got more great content over at our home page, including in-depth analysis from yesterday’s win. As always we’ll be back tomorrow, and every day after that with another issue of Thunder in the News.