The tournament stage of the NBA Summer League in Vegas is set with the OKC Thunder seeded sixth and playing Thursday July 12 versus the Grizzlies.
All 30 teams completed the first segment of the NBA Summer League tournament in Vegas. Although figuring the seeding is akin to guessing how many jellybeans are in a jar, I’m fairly confident the OKC Thunder are ranked sixth.
The math which led me to this summation is five teams were unbeaten and OKC fell into the next tier of eight squads who finished with a 2-1 record. Tiebreakers to determine rank are based on quarter points and point differential. A look at the chart would seemingly indicate the Thunder ranked 12th. However, the Lakers finished first because their 10.5 point differential was the best of the five squads. Likewise, the Thunder’s 8.0 differential ranks best among the 2-1 squads.
Schedule:
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Eight games and 16 squads will play today (Wednesday, July 11). Losers from those games (and from Thursday’s games) will automatically play in consolation games on Friday. Winners will get a day off and advance to play their next bracketed winner on Saturday July 14th.
OKC’s first contest (Game 57) is Thursday, July 12th versus the Memphis Grizzlies at 6:00 PM ET (5:00 CT) at the Cox Pavilion.
If OKC win they’ll play the winner of the Jazz vs.Magic match (Game 60). That match (Game 75) will take place on Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center at 10:30 PM EST (9:30 PM CT).
Should the Thunder lose they will play in a consolation game vs. the loser of the same above match on Friday in the Thomas and Mack Center at 8:30 PM ET (7:30 CT).
Since this portion of the tournament is the elimination round other than the Friday consolation games a loss results in the end of a team’s tourny.
Quarters, Semis and Finals:
In terms of game times, if the Thunder win out their quarter final match would occur Sunday July 15 at 10:00 PM (9:00 CT), the semi on 10:30 PM (9:30 CT) Monday and the finals on Tuesday at 10 PM (9PM CT).
Plan on grabbing a nap if the Thunder progress since all their games are so late. Funny the team who were expected to be the third worst in the tournament have fared so well.
Although it would be great for players like Terrance Ferguson and the Thunder rookies to gain winning experience it’s not the top priority. Rather assessing the talent on the roster is far more essential.
Sam Presti and the brain trust will need to decide where to assign each of their rookies. One two-way contract remains to be awarded and several spots on the OKC Blue are up for grabs.
Several players have produced stand out performances such as Rashawn Thomas, Daniel Hamilton and rookie Hamidou Diallo. The 2-way contract awarded to Deonte Burton was somewhat surprising given Thomas and Hamilton’s consistent production.
TI will provide more details leading up to and after the matches. For the full schedule visit nba.com.
Want to get a better overview of the Thunder rookies and tournament participants check out TI’s prospect previews.
We’ll have a game day preview for the Thunder – Grizzlies match tomorrow morning and post game grades afterward as well.