Thunder Could Close the Gap on Reverse 3-Seed

Despite a few wily wins over the last few weeks, if all goes as planned for general manager Sam Presti, Oklahoma City could be heading into lottery night with the third best odds.

Houston is 1-9 in their last ten tries and Orlando is too far gone to catch for Oklahoma City, who currently hold the fourth worst record in the league, therefore giving them the fourth best draft odds for 2022.

But the Pistons, the league’s third-worst by record, have won five of their last seven games, leaving the door wide open for other challengers.

The closest would be Oklahoma City, who as of Sunday night, have nine players out due to injury, including up-and-coming star rookie Josh Giddey. Scrathces alongside Giddey are defensive stalwart turned 3-point sniper Luguentz Dort, and the team’s senior players Kenrich Williams, Mike Muscala and Ty Jerome.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has done his best to keep Oklahoma City in games, 33.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.7 assists in six games since returning from injury, but it hasn’t been enough as OKC has dropped to 1-3 in their last four tries.

The Thunder have managed to snag a few wins here and there, including wins over the Nuggets and Pacers recently, but have even more as of late due to it’s depleted squad.

Rolling out several G-Leaguers each night with a mid-level schedule the rest of the way, OKC could be in position to oust Detroit for the reverse three seed should they stay hot.

Detroit has the 11th best strength of schedule remaining, not the most promising news for Thunder fans, but Cade Cunningham is continuing to prove why he was the league’s top selection last July.

If Detroit continues their success, it could come down to a key head-to-head matchup on April 1st to decide between the two teams.

Oklahoma City is back in action next against the Bucks on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Paycom Center.

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