Sitting at 5-12 and 65 games to go... They have won over 70% of all their games over the last 3 years. So if we assume they win at a 70% rate the rest of the way they will finish with about 50 or 51 wins. In the past 2 years that would be good for the 6th or 7th seed. Winning at a 70% rate is assuming everything goes smoothly and they hit the ground running with no setbacks, but I think anywhere from 6-8 is where they land. Getting into the top 4 is just about out of reach unless 2-3 of the right teams get hit hard with injuries.
There are 10 teams above .500 in the West currently. If OKC wins 70% (which is a fair assumption if they are healthy), then there will be some losers of the teams above them! One might reasonably expect a few of those teams to get stuck in a playoff seeding race. Last season there were 9 teams above .500, if OKC streak home to 50 or 51 wins, that would make 11 teams above .500 (including those who currently are), which would surely see some 'streaming' of standings? So it is POSSIBLE that 50 wins sees them rise as high as 5th (like a few years ago, when there were more teams outside the playoffs close to that .500 mark. Of course, the more likely result is that a couple of those teams drop off altogether, and OKC sits in the 6-8 spot!
God help the Western Conference. The Thunder are going to be blowing through it with a winning percentage of .700+.
Thing is, they're going to pour so much energy, especially late in the season, into making the playoffs only to have to go up against the Warriors, Spurs or Grizzlies in round 1. While they certainly can beat them in a 7 game series, I doubt this is "their year". They're going to have to go on a tear just to get into the playoffs so I fully expect once they are there to not really get out of round 1. Not to mention, this is going to certainly hurt the cohesiveness of that team when Westbrook goes into "me first" mode and screws up several games along the way.
All the smart teams are going to meet at the middle, lol. Let Sacramento take the 1 seed. Bench the starters.
For all the talk about whether OKC could still make a run at the playoffs, they are now 1.5 games out with 59 games to go. They could be in the playoffs in a week or two, let alone by the end of the season.
Durant should rest until he's 200% healthy. WB can hold it down. He has plenty of time to catch a rhythm before the playoffs when he returns.
