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I was hoping that we might reach .500 this year, I never expected this. Pleasant surprise though

Pretty amazing.. only two games back of Utah also since they lost and we already beat them twice.

Still a lot of season left to play and anything can happen. I know this team won't get complacent, though. In 2004-2005 when Seattle had the good year we were 34-14 at the All Star break after losing two and a row. We had a huge lead in the division too. We finished the year 18-16 and barely eked out the division title by three games, really losing focus of the season toward the end.

Playoffs would be nice but I'm still not getting my hopes up

9 games over .500 is nice at the break, but I honestly see them slipping greatly post All-Star break.

They will probably finish closer to .500 during their remaining stretch of games, and most likely be under .500 in the 2nd half.

Still that should put this team around the 40-45 win total, which is still miles better than expected and could be close to the last spot in the west.

I think this for 2 reasons. They are going to get a little cocky and maybe a little too comfortable. I see us losing a few games where they are overlooking their opponent. They are gonna start eying a first round buy or even winning the NW division, and forget that they are just a few games from being out of the playoffs.

Then the pressure is going to set in. Down the stretch I don't see them being able to handle the pressure as well as teams such as Portland, San Antonio, Phoenix, New Orleans or Houston who have been in the playoffs year in and year out.

Hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully their youth isn't a detriment, and they can just keep playing above their heads like this without knowing any better and that they keep greatly overachieving this season. Only time will tell, but I'm not gonna be shocked when we get off to a slow start and miss out on the playoffs by a game or two.

I'm probably being over pessimistic about this. The NOK Hornets did this in 2006 when they surprisingly held the 6th seed and the break, then faltered after the break. OKC has a better record than 15 of its next 19 opponents, hopefully they don't choke one off

The thunder would really have to choke to miss the playoffs. Our first half was by far our tougher half and we got through it 9 over .500

I dont think they will chok under the pressure OKIE. Mainly because we have such a good road record. Beating team in thier building is usually where young teams falter.

Take a look at the teams with winning records away from home.

Boston 17-9
Cleveland 19-8
Orlando 16-12
Dallas 17-11
Lakers 16-9
Oklahoma 15-11

That's it!

We're are in pretty elite company at the moment! Not a sign of a team that will falter down the stretch. Not holding my breath for playoffs, but we have been playing really well and shown some good toughness.

Gotta agree with you Clangus. I've really gone from wishing for the playoffs, to being hopeful, to being optimistic, to feeling a little confident at this point. It would be a pretty huge testament to Durant probably more than anyone. Presti has done a great job, so has Brooks, and a lot of players have stepped up along the way, but there isn't one guy on this team that would be close to being the 2nd best player on a playoff team. I'm not even a really big Durant fan (love watching him, but like a good portion of the team more), but this has been a pretty amazing run by him.

The only thing I'm weary of is the lack of "quality" wins.

The only really strong playoff contender the Thunder have beaten at full strength is Atlanta and I don't consider them an elite team.

Any other top team in the league if the Thunder have beaten them, they were without a star player.

But I have no problem steam rolling through the crap teams in the league and cruising into the playoffs.

fallacy wrote:The thunder would really have to choke to miss the playoffs. Our first half was by far our tougher half and we got through it 9 over .500

go check out our last 14 games of the season and tell me if you are still confident....
I know im not, we need to get on a hot streak to start the 2nd half of the season to give us a cushion that we WILL need.

Mon, Mar 22 San Antonio - Winnable
Wed, Mar 24 Houston - They're pretty bad right now
Fri, Mar 26 LA Lakers - Loss
Sun, Mar 28 Portland - Winnable
Tue, Mar 30 @ Philadelphia - Win
Wed, Mar 31 @ Boston - We don't know if they'll even have any healthy players at this time. If so, loss

Sat, Apr 3 @ Dallas - Winnable, we lost by one last time
Sun, Apr 4 Minnesota - Win
Tue, Apr 6 @ Utah - Already beat them twice
Wed, Apr 7 Denver - beat them too
Fri, Apr 9 Phoenix - beat them as well
Sun, Apr 11 @ Golden State - Win
Mon, Apr 12 @ Portland - Winnable
Wed, Apr 14 Memphis - They've fallen off lately

I'm still confident.

we're 6th now

fallacy wrote:Mon, Mar 22 San Antonio - Winnable
Wed, Mar 24 Houston - They're pretty bad right now
Fri, Mar 26 LA Lakers - Loss
Sun, Mar 28 Portland - Winnable
Tue, Mar 30 @ Philadelphia - Win
Wed, Mar 31 @ Boston - We don't know if they'll even have any healthy players at this time. If so, loss

Sat, Apr 3 @ Dallas - Winnable, we lost by one last time
Sun, Apr 4 Minnesota - Win
Tue, Apr 6 @ Utah - Already beat them twice
Wed, Apr 7 Denver - beat them too
Fri, Apr 9 Phoenix - beat them as well
Sun, Apr 11 @ Golden State - Win
Mon, Apr 12 @ Portland - Winnable
Wed, Apr 14 Memphis - They've fallen off lately

I'm still confident.

we beat Utah by 1 on a horrible call at the end. We shouldn't hope to have those happen to often. Plus its at Utah which isn't an easy place to win.

Denver game is a back to back, and when we beat them they didn't have Carmelo.

Portland game is at Portland with presumably Roy back healthy.

San Antonio is just as good as us so its 50-50.

10 of the games are vs playoff teams a year ago, with a couple tough back to back games. They have the experience we don't. History is not on our side.