Ranking OKC’s Preferred First Round Playoff Opponents

If OKC finished as either the seventh or eighth seed, they would end up playing one of these two teams in the first round. The Thunder need to avoid them at all costs.

9. Golden State Warriors

Yes, the Thunder have blown out the Warriors twice this season. Yes, the Warriors are currently dealing with a ton of injuries to their star players. But make no mistake, Oklahoma City desperately needs to stay away from a first round matchup with the Warriors.

When Golden State is motivated they are practically unbeatable. Look no further than the February 24th game where the Warriors turned it up a notch and rattled the Thunder by 32 points. The Warriors should have their full arsenal ready by the time the Playoffs begin on April 14th, hence why OKC should be avoiding them.

This may be a fun series, but it would be much better suited in the second round or even the Western Conference finals. A first round annihilation by Golden State would be a bad look for a Thunder team whose future remains up in the air.

8. Houston Rockets

Without Andre Roberson, the Thunder are going to have a difficult time slowing down this dynamic Houston offense. The March 6th loss against Houston was a cold reality check as to how far apart the Rockets and Thunder remain. Even with the emergence of Corey Brewer, the Thunder are still the inferior team on both sides of the ball.

Other than Golden State, the Rockets biggest playoff enemy is themselves. Their two stars (James Harden and Chris Paul) along with their head coach Mike D’Antoni all have a long history of playoff failures. While there is pressure on Houston, they should still have no issue getting by Oklahoma City if they end up facing in round one. If both teams advance and play in the second round (where the pressure piles on), the series could get more interesting.