OKC Thunder will play Portland Trail Blazers in round one of 2019 playoffs
It took all 82 games to decide where the OKC Thunder would be seeded as it did for their eventual first-round opponent the Portland Trail Blazers.
There’s nothing like a bit of angst-filled moments on the last night of the NBA regular season. Yet, that’s what OKC Thunder fans got as we learned Paul George would not be playing in Game 82. Adding more intrigue the Thunder had to play on consecutive nights versus a well rested team on their home court.
Westbrook leads Thunder to 49th win and sixth seed:
Still, if I told you I expected anything less than victory (even without PG13) I’d be lying. After all, when Russell Westbrook sets his mind to something rarely does he miss. And, so it was that OKC handed the Milwaukee Bucks just their ninth home loss of the season. This locked in the Thunder to the sixth seed and means they will enter the playoffs as winners of their last five games, which just happens to be the longest current win streak in the Association.
Blazers use six reserves to nail down third seed:
As for their opponent, the Thunder will face the Portland Trail Blazers who trailed the Kings by as much as 28 points before mounting the comeback. The Blazers used just six players (all reserves) to capture the win.
The OKC Thunder swept the season series between the Northwest division rivals Portland, four games to zero. Although the Thunder have the longest active win streak (five games) entering the postseason the Blazers are equally hot having won 14 of their last 17 games – a run they began after their overtime loss to the Thunder on March 7th.
Luck of the draw:
Of the teams the Thunder could face in the first round I made no bones about wanting Portland. With all due respect to Damian Lillard (who is on my All-NBA team) with CJ McCollum still not 100 percent and Jusuf Nurkic lost for the season the Blazers were the best choice for the Thunder.
Sure, the Nuggets are young and inexperienced but they are not a great matchup for OKC particularly in the first round. Should both squads win their series I’d feel much more comfortable facing them in round two (although I suspect the Spurs will pull off an upset despite their road woes).
Preferable Bracket:
The other reason why I was actively pining for the sixth seed is this meant the Thunder could avoid the prohibitive favorites – the Golden State Warriors until the Western Conference Finals.
In fact, by virtue of beating the Rockets, it means OKC (if they win) will only have to play one of Warriors or Rockets, not both.
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- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Diving into the journey it will require to reach the Western Conference Finals the bracket the Thunder are in is in my humble opinion an easier path than what the Warriors will have to take. The Dubs will play the upstart Clippers who have nothing to lose which means they’ll play free and loose and will trot out players like Patrick Beverley to take (cheap) shots at Stephen Curry.
Assuming the Warriors take care of business (read: gentleman’s sweep) their reward will be a semifinals series of featuring the winner of the Rockets-Jazz series. In all likelihood, the Rockets will prevail to play the Dubs, which will amount to the two squads most thought had the best shot of winning the Conference meeting one round earlier than expected.
Conversely, the Thunder will play the Blazers and if successful either play the Nuggets or Spurs in round two.
If I presented you with the choice of:
(a) Clippers/Rockets or
(b) Blazers/Spurs or Nuggets
for the Thunder to face tell me you wouldn’t take the latter option.
Thunder kicking off its series against Portland on Sunday at 2:30 CT pic.twitter.com/wbz8mDHIXw
— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) April 11, 2019
Game 1 is set to tip off on Sunday at 3:30 EST (2:30 CST).
Next. Thunder take sixth seed with defeat of Bucks, player grades. dark
Stay tuned to Thunderous Intentions as prior to Sunday we’ll dive into the first round series.