Ranking OKC’s Preferred First Round Playoff Opponents

The Thunder will most likely end up playing one of these four teams in the first round. All provide their own challenges, but are much more ideal than the previous matchups listed.

6. Portland Trail Blazers

Winners of 13 in a row, the Blazers have found their stride and rocketed all the way up to third in the Western Conference. The main reason Portland has made its move is Damian Lillard, who is playing at an All-NBA level right now. Perhaps most concerning for the Thunder is that they have yet to beat Portland in three tries this season.

The good news, however, is that two of those matchups came earlier in the season when Oklahoma City was clearly still figuring things out. These two teams play one final time in OKC on March 25th. This will be a good litmus test to see how close these division rivals truly are. On paper, the Thunder have the overall talent edge, but Portland has shown to be a more consistent and cohesive unit, making them a formidable playoff foe.

5. Utah Jazz

Speaking of teams that are surging at the right time, the Utah Jazz have refused to become irrelevant after losing star Gordon Hayward in free agency. Utah has won nine in a row and 21 of its last 23 contests. This tweet by Tommy Beer of Basketball Insiders shows how dominant the Jazz have been as of late, specifically on the defensive side.

This strong play can be attributed to the return of center Rudy Gobert, who missed a month with a knee injury. With Gobert and the emergence of rookie sensation Donovan Mitchell, Utah has a solid inside and outside combo that scores just enough to win games with their lockdown defense.

Utah struggles on offense, ranking 24th in offense averaging just 103.1 points per game. Still, their second ranked defense, which would be first had Gobert not gotten hurt, will give even the best of offenses headaches. A healthy Jazz team is going to be a nightmare for whoever they end up playing in the first round, hence why the Thunder should try and avoid them.

4. Minnesota Timberwolves

The OKC Thunder lost the season series to the Wolves 3-1. Again, all four games were played at a time the Thunder were still putting things together. One of the three losses came in controversy after Andrew Wiggins buzzer-beater should have been nullified by Karl-Anthony Towns illegal screen, and coach Tom Thibodeau calling a timeout when his team didn’t have any.

There are three reasons, however, that playing the Timberwolves in the first round could be beneficial. First of all, it is unclear on whether Jimmy Butler will be back in time with his sprained MCL. And even if he is back, it is unlikely he will be 100 percent.

Second, Thibodeau plays his stars way too much, and could be completely gassed by the end of the season. Wiggins leads the league in total minutes played, Towns is eighth, and Taj Gibson is 12th. Even Jeff Teague, who has missed 11 games, is 62nd. With the Timberwolves fighting for their lives, they can ill-afford to rest players down the stretch, so the minutes, especially for Towns and Wiggins, will continue to pile up.

The final reason playing the Timberwolves could be beneficial is their overall lack of Playoff experience. Of the Timberwolves ten main rotation players, (assuming you still think Derrick Rose can play) five have never been to the Playoffs. The franchise as a whole has not been to the playoffs since 2004, so there is a lot of pressure riding on the season. The Thunder could easily take advantage of all this in a potential first round face-off.

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3. New Orleans Pelicans

Of the non-Houston and Golden State potential matchups, this may be the only one where the Thunder don’t have the best player on the floor. Anthony Davis has been a monster this season and rightfully deserves MVP consideration. Jrue Holliday has also had a nice bounce back season and has helped the Pelicans stay afloat after losing DeMarcus Cousins for the season. But other than those two, the talent on this New Orleans squad is underwhelming. It would take a monster series from Davis just for the Pelicans to have a chance.

The Pelicans have beaten the Thunder both times this season, but still have one more matchup to go on April 1st in New Orleans. Even if they end up losing all three games, the Thunder would still love to face this Pelican team. There would be a ton of pressure on Davis, who has yet to win a playoff game in his career, and on the rest of the team in an attempt to keep Cousins, who is a free agent once the season ends.

Aside from Davis, the Thunder have the matchup advantage at each position. With Steven Adams, Jerami Grant, Patrick Patterson, and even Carmelo Anthony, the Thunder should have the ability to throw different looks at Davis and make him work hard to put up his numbers.