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OKC Thunder: Ranking difficulty of seeding schedules for all 22 teams

By Tamberlyn Richardson

OKC Thunder huddle up during the game (Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images)
OKC Thunder huddle up during the game (Photo by Ron Turenne/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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OKC Thunder Team Previews: Caris LeVert #22 of the Brooklyn Nets poses for a portrait during Media Day (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

19th) Nets -Cumulative opponent win total: 281

Seeding Game Record: 5-3, clinched seventh seed – will play Raptors in the first round

  1. Magic 128  – Nets  118 (July 31)
  2. Nets 118 – Wizards 110 (August 2)
  3. Nets 119 – Bucks 116 (August 4)
  4. Celtics 149 – Nets 115 (August 5)
  5. Nets 119 – Kings 106 (August 7)
  6. Nets 129 – Clippers 120 (August 9)
  7. Nets 108 – Magic 96 (August 11)
  8. Blazers 134 – Nets 133 (August 13)

The Nets are in a quandary since they have seven core players who aren’t in Orlando. Management knew Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving wouldn’t be on hand but COVID-19 hit several members of their roster taking them out. DeAndre Jordan suffers from asthma so his exclusion made sense. What didn’t make sense was Spencer Dinwiddie and Taurean Prince’s exclusion. Dinwiddie indicated his desire to be on the site but his recovery was taking longer than he anticipated.

Here’s where things seem a bit odd. The decision to not have Dinwiddie or Prince attend occurred at the very beginning of the bubble experience. Consider the fact the Clippers Ivica Zubac and Landry Shamet only just got to the bubble this week. Why didn’t the Nets wait to see if they could bring Prince and Dinwiddie later?

My guess is the organization does NOT want to perform well. The eight teams who failed to make the bubble are locked for the draft lottery, however, the performance of the 22 teams in Orlando will determine seeds nine through 30. Unfortunately for the Nets the Wizards aren’t doing them any favors because they could’ve theoretically caught up Brooklyn especially if Bradley Beal had attended.

The Nets have one of the hardest back-to-back sets (if not the hardest) of the teams, but a rash of current chase teams makes their overall strength of schedule one of the easiest.

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