We barely made it, but here we are. OKC Thunder is in a great position taking on Portland in the first round. Today’s deep dive brings you the predicted match-up between either bench squads.
OKC Thunder hasn’t had a prominent bench team in the last few seasons but we got to see a little magic this time around.
With the addition of Dennis Schroder as back-up point guard, and the occasional appearance of Dadbod Ray Ray, the bench hasn’t looked too shabby this season. Though the rotations have been questionable.
Towards the beginning of the season frustrations were high as Billy Donovan would leave in his second-team just long enough to blow the lead so the starters had to fight an uphill battle. Luckily, things seemed to turnaround in the end.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brooke Lopez sitting out of game 82 we got a pretty good glimpse of how deep our bench actually goes. Raymond Felton stepped up with some great 3-balls while Markieff Morris also shined, picking up for Adams during his time recovering from the hard fall in the second quarter.
On the other hand, some players were taking turns playing for the OKC Blue and the OKC Thunder varsity so they never really got the chance to establish themselves on the NBA court. I’m sure you know I’m alluding to Deonte Burton who rightfully deserved more minutes this season, but of course, I’m not bitter (she said sarcastically).
Bench performance will be a key factor for a deep push in the postseason as we have seen Westbrook whither under the pressure of doing all the work. Of course, he dominated at it a few times this season but that just shouldn’t be a responsibility he has to assume in the postseason. Also, the rotations of who is on the court with who will be important and that is something Donovan has hardly gotten right this season.
Players like Raymond Felton, Nerlens Noel, and Abdel Nader will need to stay efficient for the next four to seven games, there’s no question about that. But, did they have enough chances this season to prepare for a seven game series? I guess we will find out on Sunday.
With that, let’s get into the specifics of these two bench teams and a few match-ups to watch out for as the OKC Thunder attempt to blaze over Portland.