The Thunder enter the final stretch aiming for full health, the top seed, and another MVP trophy for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night to improve to 47-15 on the season.
Which means OKC is officially 75% of the way into the season and have exactly 20 games remaining on the schedule. As the defending champs enter the final fourth of the year, there are three things that Thunder fans hope the team accomplishes in the home stretch.
1. Get healthy and fully in sync. Easily the most important box to check heading into the postseason. Oklahoma City has been purposefully conservative with injuries to ensure player health above all else. We haven't seen this team at full strength and firing at all cylinders so far this season. On one hand, that's discouraging because chemistry and defining roles is paramount before the playoffs. On the other hand, it's encouraging that OKC has still managed to be the best team in the West despite all the injuries and players in and out of the lineup. Jalen Williams is due to be re-evaluated this week. Ajay Mitchell's re-evaluation date and come and gone. Those two shot creators returning to the rotation could take this team over the top.
2. Claim the #1 seed in the Western Conference. As stated in this space previously, the #1 overall seed would be a nice luxury but does not feel like a necessity. In the highly competitive and deep West, however, having homecourt advantage becomes a priority. We only have to rewind to last May when the Thunder and Nuggets battled it out for seven games in the Western Conference Semifinals. Who knows what happens if a Game 7 took place in Denver rather than Oklahoma City. And given that the San Antonio Spurs won the season series 4-1 (with an asterisk on that final game), OKC would much prefer the first two matchups and a possible Game 7 in a potential playoff battle between the renewed rivals to be played at The Paycom Center and not the Frost Bank Center.
3. Bring home the second straight MVP to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Sure, it has no bearing on the ultimate end goal of repeating as NBA champions. Sure, it's not a team achievement but an individual award. But Gilgeous-Alexander is building quite a legacy in real time and back to back Most Valuable Player trophies are a rare feat. Besides, everybody on the squad has a second wrist to fit another Rolex watch. And Jared McCain could use his first.