Official PLAYOFFS Thread

[slick_watts]

So who really thought we'd be clinching a playoff berth this year..

As hard as I am about the team sometimes what a turnaround and improvement. Congrats Thunder! Really appreciate the effort the whole team puts in.

[dream_catcher_9]

In the back of my mind I was hoping for the playoffs but didn't expect it. Now that its here I am really excited. Can't wait till April 17th. I really don't care who we play, its going to be exciting either way and it will give this team valuable experience going forward.

[dream_catcher_9]

One thing I know for certain. The end of this game was a playoff type of pressure that the team did not handle well at all. Basically they almost choked the game away. I saw a few shots of Westbrook's face and could tell he was really panicking. We need some of Green and Maynor to rub off on him and soon because he is the one that's going to lead this team to deep playoff runs.

I love Maynor as you can tell by my avatar, but I realize he is not the future of this team at starting PG, Russ is. Russ needs to learn from Green and Maynor on how to calm down, and not rush when things get tight.

[slick_watts]

One thing I know for certain. The end of this game was a playoff type of pressure that the team did not handle well at all. Basically they almost choked the game away. I saw a few shots of Westbrook's face and could tell he was really panicking. We need some of Green and Maynor to rub off on him and soon because he is the one that's going to lead this team to deep playoff runs.

I love Maynor as you can tell by my avatar, but I realize he is not the future of this team at starting PG, Russ is. Russ needs to learn from Green and Maynor on how to calm down, and not rush when things get tight.

It happens.. I mean, Maynor's not a great shooter. What happens if he misses that three? I dunno. Green is pretty stoic in general.

The Boston game was a similar situation and I thought we handled it well. Letting that lead slip away so fast pretty shocking for everyone I think.

[dream_catcher_9]

Just a trend I have noticed with Russ. When it gets tight I see him tightening up as well. Experience and mostly playoff experience will help settle those nerves IMO. This win was a character win for us though I think.

[slick_watts]

I think the sixth seed might be the best for us unless we can somehow manage home court advantage. A fifth seed should be avoided as that'd put us in the Lakers bracket for the second round.

We have a huge degree of control over our fate, with games against three of the teams ahead of us (Phoenix, Utah, and Denver). Wins against Pheonix and Utah would be huge and give us a tie breaker against them.

So there's still a decent chance of home court advantage in the first round..

[dream_catcher_9]

yeah I was looking at the standings and we are 1 loss behind the #2 seed? Say it ain't so....I'm not sure how I would feel with the #2 seed though. The expectations of winning that first round would be really high.

[BIG EDDIE]

I think the Thunder would have really nice chances against pretty much any team, except maybe the Lakers.
What I really like about OKC, is that they have a 23-15 road record.
Thats better than what the Lakers have.
Only Dallas i better with 24-14 in the western conference.

If you take Denver...they are a pretty good team, but they are 18-21 this year away from home.
In the playoffs you win series on the road and the Thunder are capable to do so.

Therefore for me, a first round elimination would be a dissapointment, no matter against who.
Right now, I would probably only fear the Spurs as possible matchup.
They seem to be really hot at the moment and Manu is the most underrated NBA player ever.
He made a career out of coming from the bench, but has always been a top 12 player in this league.

[fallacy]

I think the sixth seed might be the best for us unless we can somehow manage home court advantage. A fifth seed should be avoided as that'd put us in the Lakers bracket for the second round.

We have a huge degree of control over our fate, with games against three of the teams ahead of us (Phoenix, Utah, and Denver). Wins against Pheonix and Utah would be huge and give us a tie breaker against them.

So there's still a decent chance of home court advantage in the first round..

I thought the playoffs re-seeded after every round (basically the highest seed always plays the lowest seed). For Example:

1
8

5
4

3
6

2
7

Then lets say the 1 seed, 4 seed, 6 seed, and 2 seed won. The next round would be

1
6

2
4

instead of

1
4

2
6

[slick_watts]

No, they don't re-seed after every round.

[Jimmy76]

lets not play the lakers in the first round...

both the spurs and thunder schedule look similar

[slick_watts]

Spurs have the tie breaker on us.

I think we're playing for the 7th seed at best right now barring a collapse of the Spurs. If we beat Portland on the road we're 7th seed. If we lose we probably fall to 8th. If we beat Phoenix there's a chance that we can lose to Portland and still get the 7th seed if Portland loses 2 of their games.

But pretty much it comes down to us beating Portland on the road or it's a date with the Lakers.

[Jimmy76]

Spurs have the tie breaker on us.

I think we're playing for the 7th seed at best right now barring a collapse of the Spurs. If we beat Portland on the road we're 7th seed. If we lose we probably fall to 8th. If we beat Phoenix there's a chance that we can lose to Portland and still get the 7th seed if Portland loses 2 of their games.

But pretty much it comes down to us beating Portland on the road or it's a date with the Lakers.

she isn't exactly a pretty girl either

[slick_watts]

I think we match up pretty well with the Lakers as long as Bynum isn't playing. What's his status, is he going to be ready?

[dream_catcher_9]

I think we match up pretty well with the Lakers as long as Bynum isn't playing. What's his status, is he going to be ready?

you just know Kobe is going to go into beast mode, so id rather not face LA.

1) Utah
2) Dallas
3) Phoenix
4) Denver
5) San Antonio
6) Portland
7) Los Angeles

[slick_watts]

Kobe's got 44,000 NBA minutes on his odometer, his beast mode isn't what it used to be. Of course you'd rather not face LA but if Bynum's out I don't think the matchup is as bad for us as it could be.

[Jimmy76]

playing a contender (arguably a favorite) would give us a good gauge of where we really are

and considering the possibility we're destroyed in the interior might help the push to make our PF/C rotation more solid

and the game where we wasted the lakers does give me some upset hope even if it isn't warranted...

[Clangus]

Yeah I do not know if we have a shot at beating them. Too much experience and size. Would be fun to take a game or two though

[BIG EDDIE]

I still believe that we can get the 6th seed and play hopefully Dallas in the first round.
We just need to finish better than SAS and Portland.
Right now:
OKC 48-30
SAS 48-30
Por 48-30

SAS play vs MEM (Win), at Den (Loss), vs Min (Win) and at Dallas (Loss)
so they finish 50-32

Portland plays vs Dal (Win), at LAL (Loss), vs OKC (Loss) and vs GSW (Win)
so they also finish 50-32

OKC just needs to win at Portland and win 2 more out of the other 3 (vs Pho, at GSW, vs Mem)

So 3 out of the last 4 would probably be enough to get to the 6th seed.

But winning all 4 would seal the deal.

[joyner82]

We still have a shot at the 5 and hopefully a 1st round series vs Utah. If we win out, which honestly I think we'll lose in Portland, Phoenix has Houston, Denver, and @ Utah left.

It would be huge if we could get the 5 especially considering if we won a series we would get the Lakers which imo would be great for the future.