The Thunder are back. Prepare yourselves.
After losing Durant's season debut to New Orleans, the Thunder have now won their last five games, most impressively snapping the Cavs winning streak at 8 on Thursday night. The .678 winning percentage they need over their remaining 59 games to reach 50 wins seems easily achievable. From where we stand today, the Western Conference playoff field already seems set. The Warriors, Grizzlies, Blazers, Spurs, Mavericks, Rockets, and Clippers are all virtual locks, and the Thunder are quickly gaining. That would mean, for the first time in my memory at least, the Western Conference playoffs would include eight teams with legitimate championship aspirations. This all but guarantees a wildly entertaining bloodbath come April and May.
As of today -- that is, the morning of December 13, 2014 -- there are 10 teams with a winning percentage greater than .650, and 7 of those 10 teams are in the West (the others are Toronto, Washington, and Atlanta). Let's throw in the Thunder, too, as they seem destined to reach that mark. Those eight teams could finish in any order, depending on how their games against each other end up swinging. My projections for the order of those eight (subject to change . . . a lot) looks a bit like this:
1 - Warriors
2 - Grizzlies
3 - Spurs
4 - Thunder
5 - Mavericks
6 - Blazers
7 - Clippers
8 - Rockets
And to be entirely transparent, I changed the order about five times just this morning. Trying to pick one of those teams as a favorite to reach the NBA Finals is an impossible task, although the Warriors are looking particularly dominant right now. All I know is that I know nothing. And that this season is going to be really fun.
Friday Recap:
Blazers 106, Bulls 115
- LaMarcus Aldridge is pretty talented, but I only briefly considered the possibility that he would maintain his 84-point scoring pace for the entire game. Sure enough, the floor-stretching big man followed up his 21-point first quarter performance with just 14 points over the next three quarters, totaling 35. Lillard also put in 35, but the Bulls' balance shone through, and 31 from Rose led his team to victory. Every Bull who saw time in this game managed to score at least 8 points, and six of those eight players scored in double figures. Meanwhile, only one other Blazer got to double figures (Wes Matthews with 10). Hard to win games against top-level competition when you need 70 combined from your top two players to surpass 100 for the game.
Clippers 96, Wizards 104
Magic 81, Hawks 87
Knicks 101, Celtics 95
Sixers 70, Nets 88
Pacers 94, Raptors 106
Hornets 107, Grizzlies 113 (2OT)
Thunder 111, Wolves 92
Cavaliers 114, Pelicans 119
Pistons 105, Suns 103
Heat 100, Jazz 95
Lakers 112, Spurs 110 (OT)
Player of the Day:
LeBron James, Cavaliers - 41 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 17/24 FG, 5/8 FT
After losing Durant's season debut to New Orleans, the Thunder have now won their last five games, most impressively snapping the Cavs winning streak at 8 on Thursday night. The .678 winning percentage they need over their remaining 59 games to reach 50 wins seems easily achievable. From where we stand today, the Western Conference playoff field already seems set. The Warriors, Grizzlies, Blazers, Spurs, Mavericks, Rockets, and Clippers are all virtual locks, and the Thunder are quickly gaining. That would mean, for the first time in my memory at least, the Western Conference playoffs would include eight teams with legitimate championship aspirations. This all but guarantees a wildly entertaining bloodbath come April and May.
As of today -- that is, the morning of December 13, 2014 -- there are 10 teams with a winning percentage greater than .650, and 7 of those 10 teams are in the West (the others are Toronto, Washington, and Atlanta). Let's throw in the Thunder, too, as they seem destined to reach that mark. Those eight teams could finish in any order, depending on how their games against each other end up swinging. My projections for the order of those eight (subject to change . . . a lot) looks a bit like this:
1 - Warriors
2 - Grizzlies
3 - Spurs
4 - Thunder
5 - Mavericks
6 - Blazers
7 - Clippers
8 - Rockets
And to be entirely transparent, I changed the order about five times just this morning. Trying to pick one of those teams as a favorite to reach the NBA Finals is an impossible task, although the Warriors are looking particularly dominant right now. All I know is that I know nothing. And that this season is going to be really fun.
Friday Recap:
Blazers 106, Bulls 115
- LaMarcus Aldridge is pretty talented, but I only briefly considered the possibility that he would maintain his 84-point scoring pace for the entire game. Sure enough, the floor-stretching big man followed up his 21-point first quarter performance with just 14 points over the next three quarters, totaling 35. Lillard also put in 35, but the Bulls' balance shone through, and 31 from Rose led his team to victory. Every Bull who saw time in this game managed to score at least 8 points, and six of those eight players scored in double figures. Meanwhile, only one other Blazer got to double figures (Wes Matthews with 10). Hard to win games against top-level competition when you need 70 combined from your top two players to surpass 100 for the game.
Clippers 96, Wizards 104
Magic 81, Hawks 87
Knicks 101, Celtics 95
Sixers 70, Nets 88
Pacers 94, Raptors 106
Hornets 107, Grizzlies 113 (2OT)
Thunder 111, Wolves 92
Cavaliers 114, Pelicans 119
Pistons 105, Suns 103
Heat 100, Jazz 95
Lakers 112, Spurs 110 (OT)
Player of the Day:
LeBron James, Cavaliers - 41 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 17/24 FG, 5/8 FT