The OKC Thunder are firmly planted in the NBA Playoff standings, the only question is who will they go up against?
What a ride it has been for the OKC Thunder organization, and their fans. In less than a year’s time, the team went from getting snapped away like Thanos capturing the final infinity stones.
Damian Lillard at the time seemed to have disintegrated the OKC Thunder’s future while catapulting the Blazer’s.
After a whirlwind of offseason transactions that saw GM Sam Presti part with beloved franchise pillar Russell Westbrook, and All-Star Paul George, fans were almost ready to simply embrace the tank.
If you polled OKC Thunder fans when the dust settled, prior to the start of the 2019-20 NBA Season, an overwhelming majority would’ve pegged them for an 8-10 seeded team scrapping and clawing for a playoff spot, before trading off pieces at the NBA Trade Deadline. Instead, this team held strong after a slow start and has been among the best in the league since Turkey Day.
With no trades at the deadline, Sam Presti showed confidence in this team, that has responded with being a lock for the postseason, and an outside shot at getting to host their first-round series in one of the toughest postseason environments to play in.
So as the calendar flips to March, and we inch closer to the NBA playoffs, let’s take a look at the possible playoff opponents for the boys in blue. The most likely opponents for the OKC Thunder are as followed, the Denver Nuggets, The L.A. Clippers, The Houston Rockets, and an outside chance of the Utah Jazz.
Let’s start this journey with the L.A. Clippers, who the OKC Thunder took on earlier this week. The Clippers handled the OKC Thunder with relative ease on Tuesday evening. What would a seven-game series look like? Spoiler alert: It will be a rigorous series for both sides.
What advantages does the OKC Thunder have over the L.A. Clippers?
The OKC Thunder are a scrappy team, that has really taken on a Blue Collar identity. For the first time in his NBA coaching career, you are finally seeing Billy Donovan be able to run his offensive system that was good enough to win back-to-back college basketball titles. Now, he is in the discussion for coach of the year with some of the best coaches in the league such as Nick Nurse.
The OKC Thunder typically uses an explosive three-guard lineup that will present a ton of mismatches with almost every other team. However, the Clippers boast three of the league’s top defenders in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Patrick Beverley. That three-headed defensive monster quickly contains the Thunder’s twitchy lineups.
Yet the OKC Thunder should still hold an advantage down-low. With the Clippers being forced to not only respect all three guards on the perimeter, but also the sharpshooting Danilo Gallinari, Steven Adams should be able to feast down-low.
On paper, Adams should dominate a series against Clipper big men. With L.A. Ivica Zubac being the teams starting middle man, and the Clips scrambling to pick up Joakim Noah on Saturday, this should be a great matchup for Adams.
However, we have said that before. Remember last year against Enes “Can’t Play” Kanter in the postseason? Even in Tuesday’s matchup, the Thunder big man delivered a disappointing four-point, ten rebound effort.
The Thunder should be able to mid-pick-and-roll the Clippers to death offensively when the sharpshooting Gallo is on the floor, with good off-ball cutters surrounding the ball-handler and Adams.
The biggest question becomes, can Adams actually show up? After being played off the floor in each of the last two playoff series. For his career, Adams averages eight points, seven rebounds, and a block.
So how would a series against the Clippers go for the OKC Thunder?
This has been a wild season, the roller coaster never stops, and each moment should really be appreciated. Again, even the most optimistic OKC Thunder fans thought this team could fight for a playoff spot, not firmly be in the playoff picture.
However, a matchup with the L.A. Clippers would be disastrous, I would consider the Clips the worst possible matchup for the OKC Thunder.
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While Lu Dort has been a jaw-dropping defender as a rookie, he lacks the size to bother Kawhi or Paul George. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the length to keep up with and stay in front of the duo, but that is still a tough tandem to stop.
Dort fouls at almost a three foul clip, per contest, and against the Clippers was charged with three fouls. The saving grace could be Playoff P, if PG13 lacks in the postseason as he has known to in the past, that could crack the door open for the Thunder.
Marcus Morris Sr. also proves a tough task for the boys in blue to slow down, as he spent most of Tuesday’s contest being defended by the non-threatening defensive body of Danilo Gallinari.
As previously mentioned, this is really the only team equipped to handle the OKC Thunder’s three-guard lineup of Chris Paul, Dennis Schroder, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander matching them up with Kawhi, PG, and Beverley.
Even despite this lopsided matchup on paper, the OKC Thunder possesses all the intangibles needed, mixed with a strong homecourt advantage, to push any squad deep into a series. Being the best clutch team in the NBA, and the comeback kids all year long, no game is truly out of reach for the OKC Thunder. I could see this series going at least six games.
As you will see throughout this series, I am much more confident in the OKC Thunder topping every other possible opponent.