OKC Blue: Blue Entangled in Playoff Race to Close Season, Could Control Their Own Destiny
For the Oklahoma City Blue, their G League regular season has hit the home stretch, and the playoffs are right around the corner. The kicker – the Blue have yet to punch a playoff ticket – and the clock is ticking.
Headed into Thursday, the Blue are locked in a three-way tie for the seventh seed in the Western Conference. Only the top six teams in each respective conference enter postseason play.
Currently, the Blue hold a 15-18 record. With this, they are 9.5 games behind the conference leader, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and 1.0 games back from the Stockton Kings in sixth place.
The top five seeds have been claimed in the Western Conference.
Oklahoma City squandered a golden opportunity to clinch a playoff seed earlier in the year. But a measly 3-7 record across their last 10 games has packed them in a logjam, and a couple of prayers will need to be answered heading into their last pair of games.
Led by Zavier Simpson (right), the Blue enter the end of the season in a close seeding battle.
The Stockton Kings, the sixth seed, will play two pivotal games in the next three days taking on the Birmingham Squadron Thursday evening and the Salt Lake City Stars on Saturday. As of now, the Kings carry a one-game advantage over the Blue carrying a 15-16 record, meaning if they win their closing two games – the Blue are knocked out.
With the Kings riding a three-game losing streak, there is a glimmer of hope for the Blue camp.
Led by former NBA members Joe Young and Zylan Cheatham, Birmingham presents a hefty task as the tandem has been one of the top dynamic duos over the last week. The Kings’ matchup against the Salt Lake City Stars may not treat Oklahoma City as kindly. This season, the Stars have sourced a star in Carson Edwards, who has averaged 26.9 points on the regular season. However, the Stars have ranked as one of the worst defensive teams all year – leading to them being the bottom dweller out West with an 8-22 record.
To tag along with the Blue’s first stroke of luck, additional dominoes will need to fall in place.
The Blue lost out on tiebreakers against the Santa Cruz Warriors and the Memphis Hustle, the two teams tied for seventh place. Due to the first week of the regular season being canceled in January, Oklahoma City would bear a slight edge over Santa Cruz even if both teams win out. The reason for this is the Blue will have played one more game than the Warriors this year. This same sentiment carries over to Memphis, as the Hustle only have one game on tap – making their best possible outcome a 16-18 (.471) record. Oklahoma City can peak at 17-18 (.486).
Under current guidelines, the Oklahoma City Blue may hold an edge in seeding with 35 regular-season games.
It is worth acknowledging that the G League has yet to make a statement on how game discrepancies could affect playoff seeding. However, based on current standards, the Blue winning their final two games surges them ahead of the Warriors and Hustle, regardless of their actions.
With the Blue needing the Kings to lose out, they still need to position themselves for a playoff nod.
The Oklahoma City Blue will conclude their regular season against the Iowa Wolves in a back-to-back set on Thursday and Friday – and losing will not be an option. Under the current playoff guidelines, Oklahoma City would trump Stockton if they were to split their closing games. But, if the Blue split their set against the Wolves – that upper hand is as good as gone, and the playoff berth likely stays at the door, too.
Even though the Wolves hold a 13-17 record on the season, they still have a shot at the playoffs if all goes well. Just like the Blue, they need to sweep the back-to-back set. Iowa posed major problems in the teams’ lone meeting this year as without a traditional five, center Nathan Knight dominated with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Additionally, they have an insider as Melvin Frazier Jr. played under Head Coach Grant Gibbs with the Blue the last two seasons, before being sent out at the trade deadline.
Melvin Frazier Jr. played for the Blue for two seasons before being dealt at the G League Trade Deadline.
Over the last 10 games, Oklahoma City has gotten back on track on the offensive end. Leading the core, sophomore Zavier Simpson has starred, averaging 20.7 points and 6.8 assists in that span. To bode with the former Wolverine, Jahmi’us Ramsey and Jaylen Hoard have also gotten in sync clocking 17.8 points and 15.9 points, respectively. In all, seven total members have averaged double-digits in the last 10 games. To ice the cake, the Blue signed 6-foot-10 center De’Quon Lake to deal earlier this month – in Iowa’s trip to the Paycom – Oklahoma City had to field Hoard at the five spot.
There’s no guarantee of a next week for the Oklahoma City Blue. Over the next few days, their schedule should become a lot clearer. The Blue hold a solid playoff shot with two wins to end the year. Though, it’s still worth sending some best wishes to the Squadron and Stars.
