Denver's upset loss dramatically reshapes the playoff landscape, paving a clearer path for OKC to face the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.
After a sweep of the Phoenix Suns, the Oklahoma City Thunder now awaits its second-round opponent in the NBA playoffs.
With the Los Angeles Lakers leading the Houston Rockets 3-2 in that series, whoever comes out on top will ultimately be OKC’s next opponent. So that’s clear. The second-round opponent is going to be one of those two teams.
But assuming the Thunder can get beyond the second round and make it into the Western Conference Finals, that opponent had been more unclear to this point.
Entering the playoffs, the assumption was it would be one of the San Antonio Spurs or Denver Nuggets, because that was the presumed second-round matchup to punch a ticket to the Western Conference Finals. But after the Nuggets fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round, the picture looks much different now.
In fact, the only two teams the Thunder could see in the Western Conference Finals are now the Timberwolves and the Spurs.
And that matters because the Nuggets clearly match up well against the Thunder. Denver pushed Oklahoma City to seven games last season. Nikola Jokic is one of the two best players in the world and can flip a series on its head by himself.
Now, Denver is out of the equation.
San Antonio is also going to be playing a decimated Timberwolves team. Donte DiVincenzo is out for the season with an Achilles injury. Anthony Edwards is out for multiple weeks with a knee injury. Ayo Dosunmu is dealing with a calf issue that kept him out of the Timberwolves’ Game 6 victory over the Nuggets to advance.
All signs point to San Antonio being a significant favorite in that matchup. Not only was it a better team in the regular season, but the Spurs also have a huge health advantage over the Wolves at this point.
Obviously, it’s the playoffs and crazy things happen, which we’ve already seen in the first round across multiple series. But if OKC can make it to the Western Conference Finals, the overwhelming favorite to be its opponent at this rate is the Spurs.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander versus Victor Wembanyama is becoming more and more likely.