Who will the Thunder have to play to earn another title?
The NBA playoff bracket is taking shape, and the Oklahoma City Thunder’s path to a second consecutive title is becoming more clear in terms of who could stand in the way. There are still a few slots left to be finalized in terms of seeding and matchups, though, which means Oklahoma City will have to wait a few more days to learn its first-round opponent.
That final spot will be decided through the play-in tournament. In the Western Conference, the four teams involved are the Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors. The Suns and Blazers will face off in the 7-8 game, with the winner earning the No. 7 seed and a first-round matchup against the San Antonio Spurs, who finished as the No. 2 seed. The loser of that game will then get one more chance.
On the other side of the bracket, the Clippers and Warriors will meet in the 9-10 game, with the loser eliminated. The winner of that contest will move on to face the loser of Suns-Blazers. The winner of that final play-in game will claim the No. 8 seed and draw the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
So while the Thunder do not yet know exactly who it will be facing, at least the pool has been narrowed down. Oklahoma City’s first-round opponent will be one of those four teams.
Beyond that, there is much more clarity on the rest of the pathway. If the Thunder take care of business in the opening round, it would advance to the second round and face the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series. That projects as one of the more fascinating first-round matchups in the conference given how different those two teams are stylistically.
If Oklahoma City were to get through that round as well, the Western Conference Finals would bring another major test. On the other side of the bracket are the San Antonio Spurs, the eventual No. 7 seed out of the play-in, the Denver Nuggets and the Minnesota Timberwolves. That’s a loaded group, and each team presents a very different kind of challenge.
In some ways, though, the Thunder did benefit from how the bracket broke. The Timberwolves have made back-to-back Western Conference Finals trips. The Nuggets pushed Oklahoma City to seven games in the second round last postseason. And the Spurs have been one of the NBA’s best teams all year. All of those threats landing on the opposite side of the bracket means the Thunder would not have to deal with any of them unless it makes the Western Conference Finals.
From there, the NBA Finals remain much more difficult to project. The Eastern Conference still feels wide open even with the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics looking like the top teams on that side. The New York Knicks are certainly capable of making a run, and it would not be shocking if another surprise team emerged, much like the Indiana Pacers did a year ago.
So while there is still some waiting to do before the Thunder know the exact road, the overall picture is starting to come into focus. Oklahoma City knows the possible first-round opponents, knows what side of the bracket it is working through, and knows that if it is going to repeat as champions, it will have to survive a Western Conference field that still has plenty of danger left in it.