OKC Thunder: Daily playoff seed update and game review, April 9

Two days remain in the NBA regular season but the OKC Thunder are still uncertain of their seed or opponent. TI offers the daily seeding recap.

The OKC Thunder entered action on Sunday sitting in the seventh seed but with copious squads playing several shifts occurred on the playoff ladder and by days end they found themselves seeded sixth.

If you’ve followed this series from the onset I noted the best option for the OKC Thunder would be finding a way up to the sixth seed and hoping the Blazers would land in the third seed. This is no salt or shade being thrown at the Blazers. It’s simple logistics, without Jusuf Nurkic they become an easier team to beat and the Thunder swept them this season with Nurkic on the court. Moreover, finishing in sixth would mean the Thunder could avoid the Warriors until the Western Conference Finals should both teams win their first two series.

While some might suggest facing the Warriors earlier while healthier might be the better option the reality is the Thunder are so beat up getting through a first round series quickly to allow time for rest and preparation offers an equally compelling argument. Especially if the Warriors end up getting pushed in their first or second round series.

There are still elements of the above suggestion which need to happen but the Thunder have given themselves a shot to make this a reality with this game versus the Rockets being the most important factor in this equation becoming reality.

For now let’s review all the results from the numerous teams in action Sunday, April 7, what effect the results had on the playoff ladder and prep the list of games for Tuesday, April 9.