Oklahoma City Thunder's 2nd seed: Blessing in Disguise - NBA Update
Oklahoma City Thunder can stop entertaining the thoughts of home ground advantage. They are cemented on the 2nd spot in the Western Conference. Their hopes to revive the top seed position were shattered after San Antonio
Spurs handed a 124-89 defeat to Portland Trail Blazers.
OKC still have to compete in two more games before the end of regular season but even if they bank those two they cannot challenge the Spurs.
This situation is not that gloomy as it seems and if the flip side of coin is examined it turns out be in their favour. They will not have to confront the giants till the end of finals.
OKC will not be up against the reigning champions Dallas Mavericks in the 1st round. This will be a huge advantage for them as Mavs ousted Thunder from the playoffs last season. They will have enough time to gather their
confidence before meeting the defending champions, though Mavs are not as great as they were last year. They are maimed without Tyson Chandler.
OKC will be having the home-game advantage in the 1st round series and they will not be playing against Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Clippers until the finals. The chances are that Thunder will be playing on their
turf in the 2nd round where they will see the Los Angeles Lakers.
After the James Harden incident the rivalry between the two teams has been worsened. Thunder will be yearning to oust Lakers from the playoffs and they will probably get their shot in the 2nd round. As for the Harden
things are gloomy. He is undergoing a rigorous medical examination after suffering from a concussion in the game against Lakers on Sunday. Metta World Peace hit him with an elbow (What he claims inadvertent) on head. Under the new concussion policy Harden
will be missing the show for quite some time. It is projected that Harden will be missing the final two games of the regular season.
Thunder’s number two position will also help them from avoiding Spurs till the end of post season. Keeping San Antoni current pace in mind and their track record against OKC, playing first two games against them wouldn’t hold prolific
results for Oklahoma.
Thunder will have to put their act together if they want to take the title home. They can deal with being number 2 but will not be able to survive the big show with their key player slump.
Russell Westbrook seems to have lost his magic touch in April he is averaging 20.7 points on just 30.4% shooting in 13 games played in April. This is a huge concern for OKC as Russell was averaging 26.6 points on 49.2% shooting
throughout the season.
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