Stiles Points: NBA Proven Nightly Western Conference Will Be a Dog Fight

The Oklahoma City Thunder are going to be a top-four seed in the West, but this season's success will not be measured on postseason results.

Even during an off day for the Thunder, the Western Conference standings shuffled, giving them the second seed outright as Denver stumbled against Phoenix. 

The top three in the table are separated by a single game or less and the top four are distanced by three. Oklahoma City will likely not have to worry about falling out of the top four with fifth place being 5.5 games back of the Bricktown boys with just 21 games left in the season. The Thunder should be able to nurse that lead into hosting the first round. 

However, in the West, all ten teams to crack into the postseason will pose a threat. While none of them feel unbeatable for the Thunder, would it be shocking if any lower seed bested a higher seed in the first round? 

With the expectation of maybe Denver, there is no lock to hit the second round. While some matchups are better than others, and you can try to workshop through who you would want to play, there is no easy target. 

Think the Warriors are dead in the water? Would you really want to welcome Steph Curry for a seven-game series? The streaky Lakers have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. We have seen Luka Doncic take over the series making the poor defending hot-and-cold Mavs still a worrisome matchup. Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram in New Orleans make life difficult. Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beat give the shallow Suns life. Perhaps the Kings are the team left circling the drain this season, but even they have a home-court advantage and two All-Star caliber players.

The Oklahoma City Thunder could absolutely knock off any team in the Western Conference from top-to-bottom, however, dropping a series (Even in the first round) would not mark this season as a failure. 

Ultimately, the Thunder are still in line to reach the second round for the first time since Kevin Durant skipped town, they are that good this season. However, all first-round exits are not created equally. If the unexpected happens, do not throw the baby out with the bath water. 

The OKC Thunder have already turned in a successful 2023-24 campaign. With the youngest roster in the sport weighted by minutes played turning in a top-five offense and defense spending the entire season fighting for the top spot in the West. There is no cap on what this team can achieve this season, but it is not magically run or bust. 

Stiles Points

• Ousmane Dieng posted 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists on Tuesday for the OKC Blue. The second-year forward continues to show off improved physicality and finishing this season. As a plus-playmaker who can finish plays off-ball, if his jump shot comes around he will crack the heavily contested rotation for the Thunder. Defensively, Dieng has polished his game showing an ability to switch 1-5 in the G League this season. 
• In that same game, Keyontae Johnson dropped 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out three assists. The Kansas State product could be in line for some NBA minutes at the tail end of the season, depending on how the standings shape up. 
• The Thunder head into a big game on Wednesday as the West race heats up, they can ill afford to drop a gimme game in Portland. 
• Despite the focus being on the Western Conference playoff picture, the OKC Thunder project to have two lottery picks in the 2024 NBA Draft, and there are some quality fits to evaluate. First up in the series was Kansas swingman Johnny Furphy.

Song of the Day: That's Life by Frank Sinatra.

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