Thunder Clinch Playoff Spot!

By on

        The Oklahoma City Thunder have made a huge leap this season from last season. Last season they were missing their second overall pick rookie Chet Holmgren and while they made the Play-In Tournament they couldn't get to the playoffs. This season they are one of the top teams in the Western Conference and after a victory against the New York Knicks they officially clinched a playoff spot. The last time the Thunder made the playoffs was in 2020, the NBA bubble, where they lost in the first round against the Houston Rockets in seven games. 


        The only players still on the Thunder from 2020 are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort. The last time the OKC Thunder won a playoff series was in 2016, that year they went all the way to the Western Conference Finals. While this years Thunder team lack playoff experience they definitely have the talent to make it out the first round. It is still unsure at the moment what seed the Thunder will finish in but they will certainly finish in the top three of the Western Conference. 


        Along with Shai and Dort, the Thunder did add some veteran players with playoff experience at the trade deadline such as Gordon Hayward, Bismack Biyombo and Mike Muscala. The Thunder rank third in offensive rating and rank seventh in defensive rating. To be in the top ten in both categories is excellent data of a great team especially for a very young team. This is only the beginning of this OKC team making noise, they're going to be problem for years to come. 




Location: Miami, FL, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Are the Sacramento Kings Contenders?

By on
Image
Last season the Sacramento Kings were the most surprising team in the entire league. Before last season began the Kings have been known to be one of the worst franchises in the NBA, having missed the playoffs for 16 straight seasons. Last summer the Kings made moves that would later show a huge turning point for the franchise.  Starting with the head coach. Last season the Kings fired Head Coach Luke Walton after 2 seasons (the Kings had a record of 92-134 with Walton as their Head Coach). They then hired Golden State Warriors assistant coach Mike Brown. The Kings did not stop there as they had to make some improvements to the roster. First, the NBA Draft, with the number 4 overall pick the Kings took Forward Keegan Murray from Iowa State. Later, in free agency, they signed Guard Malik Monk to a 2-year, $19.4 Million dollar deal. Next, the Kings traded for Guard/3-pt specialist Kevin Huerter. It is amazing how the Kings were able to gain such a high-quality player while not having to g
Read more

From Division 2 to the NBA

By on
Image
          The Miami Heat have found great success when it comes to developing undrafted players and this season they had themselves another successful project with Forward Haywood Highsmith. After graduating high school in 2014 Highsmith took his basketball talents to Wheeling University, a Division 2 program. Highsmith would go on to play 4 seasons at Wheeling University and would enter the 2018 NBA draft. Haywood Highsmith would go undrafted but that did not stop him from pursuing the big leagues.            Highsmith would have a couple opportunities at making the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers however the Sixers didn't seem to have a reason to keep him so he got waived a few times. However he did not give up on his NBA dream and would continue to work on his game in the G-League with the Delaware Blue Coats [Philadelphia 76ers G-League affiliated team]. Haywood Highsmith also spent a season overseas in Germany. During the 2021-22 NBA season a lot of teams found themselves shor
Read more

Celtics Guard Inks New Deal

By on
Image
          Payton Pritchard has been quite the story for the Boston Celtics so far in his young NBA career. He was the 26th overall pick  back in the 2020 NBA draft. In his first three years in the league Pritchard has shown some offensive flashes especially with his shooting ability. However this past season Pritchard was in and out of the rotation, playing in just 48 games, which resulted in him requesting a trade however Boston did not necessarily entertain the idea. Pritchard clearly wants a consistent role in the Celtics' rotation and he may get that opportunity given all the moves the Celtics made this offseason and just recently was announced he has a signed a 4-year, $30 million contract extension with the Boston Celtics.           Pritchard did not see much playing time this past season given the elite guards ahead of him such as Marcus Smart, Derrick White and Malcolm Brogdon. Averaging just 13 minutes a game in the 48 games he appeared in during the regular season. Howeve
Read more