It's possible. The Thunder right now are reminding me of the Spurs in 1996-97 and how snakebit their roster was that season. Of course the difference there is Robinson broke his foot immediately after coming back from a back injury which pretty much ended their season(and eventually rewarded them with Duncan). The Thunder will eventually get everyone back and make a run which could leave them out of the playoffs but with a low lottery pick.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Reggie just delivered an intentional foul and limped to the bench with 3:13 left in the third. Thunder might be down to six players.</p>— Darnell Mayberry (@DarnellMayberry) <a href="https://twitter.com/DarnellMayberry/status/529820010823569408">November 5, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It's a long season. If they don't make it who will? N.O. is really thin, they are one injury to a main guy away from being out of the chase as well. Pho was magical last season but will not sneak up on people again. Den is crap, they actually lost to OKC the other day. Sacto may be a dark horse, but still unproven. I say they make it.
Harden needs to tell KD, milk hair would be more than happy with durant drawing up plays in the huddle.
A few days ago I would have said hell no, they'll obviously make it. But...I can't help but feel it's at least in play now. They are sure as hell not a 4-5 seed still like people were projecting before the WB injury.
Huh? L.A. will have the worst record in West, that's for certain. Dallas for 9th? Only way this happens is if Dirk and Chandler (Tyson) break down... Otherwise they are a top 6 team.
I definitely see them making it. Durant and Westbrook are too good. I'd love to see them as the 7th seed playing the 2nd seed Clippers in the first round. That would be awesome for the Rockets and awesome for NBA fans.
Depends on when those guys come back. It looks like Westbrook will get back first. It'll take 15 days for him to round into shape. During that time he'll be shouldering a huge load. I think he's looking at 35% FG and 4+ TO's per game during that span. Probably 2 wins. The team is built to withstand the loss of Westbrook in the regular season, not Durant. They don't have someone who can come in and give league average performance at the wing like they do at PG. If Durant takes too long they're done. Phoenix, Sacramento, Memphis and New Orleans are no joke. This is the west -- you snooze, you lose.
If they do make the playoffs, it will be a nightmare matchup for whichever top seed was unlucky enough to get them.
Haha, yeah it was a joke. To answer the OP, I think there is a real chance of them missing the playoffs. There are 11 teams fighting for those 8 spots, and if KD and Westbrook miss too much more time, they'll be in trouble.
No question about it. It took 49 wins to make the playoffs last season in the West. OKC won 59. Very easy to see them having more than a 10 game swing downward given how much time Durant may be out.
Agreed. The Thunder will have played 32 games by the end of the year, by my count. Durant might be back by Christmas, but maybe they'll keep him out until 2015. They're already 1-4, if they don't end up near .500 it will be incredibly tough for them to make a run for the playoffs in the West. 50 wins has consistently been the magic number to make it, if the Thunder are 12-20, they would have to go 38-12 for the rest of the season. Definitely possible, but they've got the: Rockets twice LAC twice Spurs twice Blazers twice Warriors twice Grizzlies three times Mavericks three times That's 16 games, if they lose 6 of those (which I think is definitely possible), they're gonna have to be damn unbeatable against everyone else to make the playoffs. Not to mention multiple games against the Suns, Pelicans, Heat, Bulls, and Cavs, all who could definitely take some games if the Thunder are not playing well. I think they'll ultimately make it though, they should be around or maybe even above .500 going into the new year. With Durant back they can make a run and win 30+ games.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>A look at what the NBA's other top rosters would look like with the Thunder's current injury situation: <a href="http://t.co/ym2iQJrBx1">http://t.co/ym2iQJrBx1</a></p>— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) <a href="https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/530020103883337728">November 5, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
