OKC Thunder: comparing the second-half schedule to opponents

Northwest Division Breakdown:

Nuggets:

Although Denver wasn’t overly taxed with a difficult front side schedule they’ll play the second easiest back end with a .437 strength of schedule.

Total Games: 36
Road vs. Home: 16 – 20
East-West: 14 – 22
Longest homestand: 5 games on two occasions
Longest road trip: 4 games
Rest Advantage/Disadvantage: 6 – 7
strong>Back-To-Back Games: 8
Miles Traveled: 19,437

Wolves:

The Wolves became the first (and so far only) team to fire their coach Ryan Saunders and in a very untypical move hired an assistant coach from another team mid-season (Chris Finch – Raptors).

Finch will have to make adjustments on the fly and also have to deal with the ninth (.509) most difficult schedule to close the season.

Total Games: 36
Road vs. Home:  17 – 19
East – West: 11 – 25
Longest homestand: 4 games on two occasions
Longest road trip: 4 games
Rest Advantage/Disadvantage: 3 – 4
Back-To-Back Games:  8
Miles Traveled: 21,062

Thunder:

See the full notes on previous pages.

Total Games: 36
Road vs. Home: 17  – 19
East – West: 16 – 20
Longest homestand: 4 games on three occasions
Longest road trip: 4 games on three occasions
Rest Advantage/Disadvantage: 5 – 8
Back-To-Back Games: 9
Miles Traveled: 18,956

Blazers:

An easier front-end schedule was potentially the saving grace for the Blazers who lost a trio of their core to long-term injury absences.

CJ McCollum will be back likely before the break and Jusuf Nurkic shortly after which should help Portland tackle the tough second half that features the fourth (.522) most-difficult schedule.

Total Games: 37
Road vs. Home: 18 – 19
East – West: 15 – 22
Longest homestand: 5 games
Longest road trip: 6 games
Rest Advantage/Disadvantage: 4 – 7
Back-To-Back Games: 10
Miles Traveled: 25,068

Jazz:

Although the Jazz front side schedule ranked in the middle of the pack inexplicably their .432 ranks as the easiest strength of schedule.

Total Games: 36
Road vs. Home: 17 – 19
East – West:  11 – 25
Longest homestand: 5 games on two occasions
Longest road trip: 5 games
Rest Advantage/Disadvantage: 5 – 6
Back-To-Back Games: 8
Miles Traveled: 23,779

In closing:

It’s not a typical season for the OKC Thunder. Or at least the schedule doesn’t hold the same emphasis. Instead of looking at teams the club needs to catch or series they need to win this season is about growth and development.

More from Thunderous Intentions

• Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

That takes some pressure off although it will be interesting to see if some games get thrown or funky endings happen as the Thunder jockey for a prime lottery position.  To that end, fans will want to keep an eye on how the Warriors, Rockets, and Heat perform to close the season as it will impact picks in the draft closet.

Hint: Cheer for the Warriors to finish in 10th overall in the league as that would mean their first-round pick conveys to OKC. Likewise, cheer for Rockets and Heat opponents as the Thunder will use the two best picks from their own and those two clubs. The ideal situation would be for the Rockets to finish 26th overall since their pick is top-four protected.

The season will finish on May 16th and jump directly into the play-in tournament on May 18th (through May 21st)  featuring seventh through 10th seeds in both conferences and determine the final four playoff teams.  May 22nd the first-round playoff series will begin.

Now that you’ve seen all the schedules which team(s) do you think got the easiest or hardest second-half schedules? Is there a team Thunder fans should be worried will enter a committed tanking phase?  Tell us your thoughts in the comment section.