Maybe.
Of course…I’m beating Vegas like a dog as per the norm in the West this season in the Daily Thunder contest even though I’ve been banned from actually commenting any longer over there because of a sexually insensitive comment I made in reference to a moderator. But…yes—there is a path for the Thunder to reach the 50 win plateau if things swing right.
Standing at 35-22 with 27 games there is clearly a path for this Thunder team to reach 50 wins this NBA regular season.
Let’s go to the data board. Of the Thunder’s remaining 25 games–14 games are against teams with a record at the .500 mark or below.
Of the Thunder’s remaining 25 games… 16 games are on the road while 9 games are at home inside the friendly confines of Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Ever since the west coast road swing to Utah and Portland at the 8-12 mark of the season… this team has been the best road team in the NBA with Lu Dort finally being inserted into the starting lineup full time. The Thunder take their pristine eight game road winning streak to Chicago tomorrow night in search of a record 9th straight road win. Usually this kind of imbalance of road to home would daunt me somewhat. But with Chris Paul playing at an MVP level and Billy Donovan finally pulling his head out of his ass and inserting Lu Dort into the starting role this ratio doesn’t faze me in the least.
Let’s go to my current Top Six Power Poll as of today: I go in this order…1 LA Lakers, 2 Milwaukee Bucks, 3 Boston Celtics, 4 Denver Nuggets, 5 LA Clippers and 6 Toronto Raptors. Against these teams the Thunder are a combined 3-7.
The Thunder have seven games remaining against these elite teams coming down the stretch. These will all be tough either at home or on the road. Plus, the Thunder have two games at home versus the non-elite Utah Jazz, one road game against the borderline elite Miami Heat, and in Game 82 a tough road assignment in Dallas to close out the season.
Vegas currently has the Thunder at 47.5 wins. I routinely beat Vegas– so why be overly cautious now.
Provided both Chris Paul and Gallo stay healthy…I have the Thunder finishing 50-32 entering the playoffs.