Both Denver and OKC end up the regular season at 57-25…yet the Thunder will claim the No. 1 seed in the West due to their 3-1 head to head record vs. the defending champ Nuggets this season.
I’m proud of the Thunder. They didn’t sandbag these final five games and won both the Northwest Division and the No. 1 seed in the West. I like what they did even though this puts them clearly in the toughest draw possible to get out of the West and to the NBA Finals.
If the seedings and the playins go as expected the Thunder will now have to possibly conquer either the Warriors or Lakers, the winners of the Clips-Mavs, and the defending champ Denver Nuggets. Twelve games against thoses three teams and those very experienced dudes on all three teams.. We’ll see.
I’m changing my regualr season awards a bit in this manner because the Thunder didn’t sandbag at the end:
MVP: Shai, then Jokic
Coach of the Year: Coach Mark, then Chris Finch
Rookie of the Year: Wemby, then Chet
My Special TSNS Award for being a guy who does it all: JDub, then Naz Reid of the Timberwolves.
I’m proud of the Thunder they were a +17 in games won from last year’s mark of 40-42.
I’m outtta here though for some time in Denver with my granchildren and the playin games in a real NBA city.
Good job, Thunder dudes.
MJ
- Editor’s note: I’m so glad I caught this video of swarmy Little Nick Gallo surrounded by the the Thunder dudes. If ever a picture told it all, this is it. Bravo… LNG.