Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Should Care About One Thing In Game 82

The Oklahoma City Thunder should care about one outcome following game 82 ahead of the NBA Playoffs.

Apr 12, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault yells / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

Chaos is the best way to describe the NBA Western Conference playoff chase heading into the final day of the regular season. The Oklahoma City Thunder (56-25) can still finish as low as third and as high as first place when the final buzz sounds on Sunday against the Dallas Mavericks (50-31).

After Devonte Graham nailed a go-ahead shot on Friday to lift the San Antonio Spurs over the Denver Nuggets, it created a three-way tie among the Thunder, Nuggets, and Timberwolves atop the Western Conference.

In the case of the three-way tie, the Oklahoma City Thunder slide up to the top line of the Western Conference table. When tied with just the Nuggets, Oklahoma City owns the tiebreaker, but if tied with just the Timberwolves the Thunder lose the tiebreaker.

With still a lot to be decided, the Oklahoma City Thunder should care about just one thing entering Sunday: Being on the opposite side of the bracket as the reigning champion Nuggets.

While everyone will stress about the first round that sits in front of Oklahoma City because this spunky young team has not played a playoff series yet, the body of work from the 82-game season should instill confidence in them surviving the opening round.

However, the Thunder -- like every Western Conference team -- should want to avoid playing the Nuggets for as long as possible.

On top of their championship pedigree and rostering one of the best players in the sport, the Nuggets have a distinct home court advantage with the change in altitude impacting the play on the floor.

The benefit of being on the opposite side as the Nuggets not only delays that matchup until the conference finals but in round two you either play the most inconsistent teams left in the playoffs (Clippers or Mavericks) or the Minnesota Timberwolves assuming there is no upset.

As everyone spends the day fretting over what matchups are on the table for round one, what number will be next to the Thunder's name and how far Oklahoma City can advance the most important outcome Sunday will be avoiding Denver for as long as possible.

Stiles Points:

• Aaron Wiggins instantly impacted the game on Friday rattling off a pair of and-ones en route to a 19-point night while shooting 66 percent from the floor.
• Jaylin Williams put up a solid 10-point, two rebounds, two assists and a steal night in just 16 minutes of action. The Arkansas product looked confident beyond the arc in this contest.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder took care of business for the second straight time against a short-handed team and will need to do it a third straight time on Sunday as the Mavericks have already announced their stars will not play.
• After another blowout win for the Thunder, it will be said that the Thunder beat the brakes off the Bucks. When did we start beating the brakes off someone? What does that even mean?

Song of the Day: Danke Schoen by Wayne Newton.

---

Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.