Thunder’s Schedule is About To Lighten Up

The Oklahoma City Thunder's injury situation has been one of this young NBA season's biggest talking points. But there has been one other challenge OKC has faced in the early goings of the season that has flown a bit under the radar.

Oklahoma City dropped a second straight road game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night after an already robust injury report got even more crowded. Ajay Mitchell sprained an ankle in the first matchup between the two teams and missed the second night of the back to back. So the Thunder were suddenly without Mitchell in addition to Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Cason Wallace and Jaylin Williams. Not to mention Nikola Topic and Thomas Sorber. That's OKC's second, third and arguably fourth and fifth best players. And five of their top nine rotation players. The injury challenge has been an increasingly difficult one to navigate.

The other challenge has been a particularly tough schedule through the first dozen games.  While OKC will continue dealing with injuries, the schedule will soon become a bit less arduous.

Through 12 games, the Thunder have faced the 8th toughest schedule by opponent winning percentage. Of the 12 games, nine opponents are currently .500 or better. Seven of the 12 games have been on the road.

Facing off against good to great teams on the road is hard enough for any NBA team. But especially for a depleted team without most of their top guys. Even moreso for a team with no choice but to play rookies, two-way players and newly rostered players big minutes. As the cliche saying goes, role players play better at home, where OKC happens to be a perfect 5-0.

Fortunately for OKC fans, the second half of November should bring that strength of schedule down a bit. 

Up next for the Thunder is a visit to the 2-8 Los Angeles Clippers followed by a trip to the 1-10 Sacramento Kings. Then OKC will go home to face a good 7-5 Atlanta Hawks squad followed by hosting the 4-8 New Orleans Pelicans. Then it's back out on the road to face the 5-6 Miami Heat and the 4-8 Indiana Pacers. The night before Thanksgiving brings the 8-3 Minnesota Timberwolves to Loud City. Then OKC closes out the month on the road against the 1-11 Milwaukee Bucks and the 3-8 Brooklyn Nets.

The rest of the month presents a much friendlier upcoming slate of games than what Oklahoma City has played up to this point. Hopefully, the softer schedule will also bring with it some reinforcements in the return of Ajay Mitchell and Jaylin Williams.

OKC just needs to win enough games to stay afloat until Chet Holmgren comes back and they can make a late season push. That means winning all games possible against the teams in the bottom half of the standings.

The schedule easing up will help.