Evaluating Potential OKC Thunder Playoff Matchups
On Monday, the Oklahoma City Thunder suffered their 19th defeat of the season to the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers. Despite 42 wins on the season — more than just three other teams — the loss has NBA fans buzzing.
With the Lakers currently sitting as the West’s No. 9 seed, many looked at the drubbing as a potential future playoff series.
Currently, there’s a 3.5-game gap between the No. 4 Clippers and No. 5 Pelicans. And there’s also a 5.0-game gap between the No. 10 Warriors and No. 11 Jazz, with the former being the last spot to make the coveted Play-In Game.
While there’s mathematically enough games to make up that ground, it’s going to be an uphill climb for all parties below those lines. Realistically, Oklahoma City will be looking at one of the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks, Kings or Suns as a potential first round matchup.
To this point, Los Angeles seems to have OKC’s number more than most, boasting a 3-1 record on the season.
Based off the regular season matchups, all signs point towards the Lakers being a tough look for Oklahoma City on several fronts. They have real size, with nine-time All-Star Anthony Davis patrolling the paint, as well as players like Jaxson Hayes, Christian Wood and more to throw out. Both James and Davis are tall tasks defensively, and OKC’s double-heavy scheme hasn’t seemed to work out so far this season.
The Kings are the only other team in that range to hand OKC multiple losses, with Sacramento owning a pretty lopsided record over the Thunder in recent years. They’ve yet to find consistency this season, but still have stars like De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis capable of giving OKC fits.
The Warriors are interesting on several levels. The Thunder have beaten them 3-1 in matchups this season, and size-wise seem to have an advantage. Still, former Defensive Player of the Year Draymond Green wasn’t present for some of those matchups, the team appears to be getting hot at the right time and Steph Curry feels like a Playoff time bomb, regardless of regular season record.
To this point, OKC has played Phoenix just twice and won both games. One upcoming matchup in late-March may offer more information, but aside from the looming threat of nightmarish Kevin Durant-Devin Booker-Bradley Beal coverage, the Suns feel a safer bet than others.
The same can be said for Dallas. Despite a 146-111 loss in early February, the Mavericks don’t seem to possess the firepower capable of capitalizing when the Thunder inevitably double (or triple) MVP candidate Luka Doncic. Even more, their paint protecters are an also an unseasoned rookie in Dereck Lively II, and Daniel Gafford, who’s still assimilating after a trade from Washington.
OKC has two more matchups with Dallas in the final stretch that should offer up more information.
The Pelicans are a similar story. The season series is tied at just 1-1, and while Oklahoma City theoretically matches up well across the board, New Orleans has overwhelmed Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co. with length before.
The Thunder will look to get back in the win column at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6 against Portland.
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