The Oklahoma City Thunder are inching closer to the playoffs, with only nine games left in the regular season. The Thunder’s focus is on getting through these last nine games as healthy as possible while hoping to play their best basketball down the stretch and enter the playoffs. Thunder fans are looking at the standings each day and examining the possible playoff matchups. While the Thunder may not be concerned with who they may match up with in the playoffs right now, there are certain teams the Thunder would like to avoid in the first round of the playoffs.
The Thunder have a league-best 61-12 record and already clinched the number-one seed in the Western Conference. Moreover, the Thunder have a 2.5-game lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers for the overall number-one seed. Since the Thunder clinched the number-one seed, they will play either the loser of the seventh and eighth seed game or the winner of the ninth and tenth seed game. The teams that are most likely to be in the play-in tournament are the Los Angeles Clippers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and Dallas Mavericks. Out of the possible six teams the Thunder could see, who do they want to avoid in the first round?
2 Teams The Thunder Would Like To Avoid in the First Round
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Minnesota Timberwolves were in the Western Conference Finals a year ago, but this year, they have been an up-and-down squad as they have suffered some injuries throughout the year. However, since March, the Timberwolves have been 10-3 and are playing their best basketball at the right time. Right now, the Timberwolves sit at the eighth seed and would have to lose the first game and win the second game to play the Thunder in the first round. Even though this would be a great matchup for fans to see two of the best young talent go head to head in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards, this is the number one team the Thunder would like to avoid.
The Thunder are 2-2 against the Timberwolves this season, and arguably, their worst loss of the season came against the Timberwolves. Furthermore, out of the teams in the West, the Timberwolves have the best personnel to be able to make life difficult for Gilgeous-Alexander. The Timberwolves also can match the Thunder’s size with their three bigs, and they have more length on the wings than the Thunder.
Golden State Warriors
The Warriors are another team the Thunder would like to avoid in the first round, however, they would rather face them than the Timberwolves. The Warriors dominated the NBA from 2014-2022, winning four rings and making the finals six times. While the team is different and older now, they are still a scary team to see in the playoffs. The Warriors made a big move at the deadline, trading for Jimmy Butler, and since that move, they have been one of the better teams in the NBA.
Unfortunately for the Thunder, they never got to play the Warriors with Butler, and if they meet in the first round, the Thunder will be going in the matchup blind. The Warriors have a ton of championship pedigree on their team, and they have one of the better coaches in the NBA, Steve Kerr. You add that to how dangerous Steph Curry and his shooting can be in the playoffs, as well as Butler, who is one of the few guys who can elevate his game drastically in the playoffs, and this team is a nightmare first-round matchup.
Teams The Thunder Want to Play in Round 1
While the Thunder would like to avoid those two teams, if possible, in the first round of the playoffs, the other four teams listed above would be the ideal matchups for OKC. However, it is unlikely the Thunder will see the Mavericks or the Suns in the first round as they are either injured or a very inconsistent underachieving team. That leaves the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Clippers as the most likely outcomes of teams the Thunder would want to see in the first round.
While the Clippers are tittering on the side of who the Thunder don’t want to see in round one, they are 10-2 in their last 12 games, with Kawhi Leonard and James Harden playing some of their best basketball recently. Regardless, the Thunder are 4-0 against them and beat them during this recent hot stretch they are on. The Kings traded their best player at the deadline and would be the ideal first-round matchup for the Thunder. If the Thunder match up with the Kings or Clippers, it could very well be a sweep or a gentleman’s sweep.
The Last Word
The Western Conference Playoffs will be a blood bath of a conference to get through. While the Thunder are the favorites to come out of the West, they would love to have an easier first-round matchup. Even if the Thunder draw the Warriors and Timberwolves in the first round, OKC should be the favorites and win. However, those series could very well go to six or even seven games. The Thunder would much rather face the Clippers and Kings and let the other teams battle it out in a hard-fought six or seven games while they get more rest heading into a much tougher matchup in the Conference Semifinals and Conference Finals of the playoffs.
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