How The Thunder Should Navigate Rust vs. Rest

The Oklahoma City Thunder have recently clinched the number one seed in back-to-back years. They are also well on their way to winning the most games in franchise history. However, they haven’t been fully healthy for most of the season. The Thunder have been dominating all year despite their injury woes and are in the driver’s seat to have home court throughout the playoffs, including the NBA Finals, if they end up getting there. Ultimately, the Thunder are going to be in one of the toughest positions to be in, and that is how they will handle the rust vs. rest problem.

The Thunder have only 11 games left in the regular season and hold a 59-12 record. The Thunder have already locked up the number one seed, so they can’t improve or hurt their position in the Western Conference. The only thing they could be playing for is to have the best record in the NBA to have home court throughout the playoffs. Notably, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a 57-14 record. However, people might suggest the Thunder rest certain guys down the stretch to avoid injuries. This way, the Thunder will be healthy for the playoffs. Let’s dive into the benefits and negatives of the rust vs rest problem the Thunder will have to deal with in these last couple of weeks.

How The Thunder Should Navigate Rust vs. Rest

The Benefits of the Thunder Resting Certain Guys

The Thunder having the luxury of being able to rest certain guys down the stretch can bring many benefits. Furthermore, we have seen that the Thunder have not been hesitant to rest guys, as they have done it twice in the last couple of weeks. This could be something the Thunder will be doing more down the stretch. If the Thunder rest guys like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and others more down the stretch, it will allow their top guys to be fresher coming into the playoffs.

Many teams in the NBA will be playing their key starters down the stretch to improve their seed in the standings, avoid the play-in, or get into the play-in. This will make players on other teams rack up more mileage and could be more fatigued going into the playoffs. Gilgeous-Alexander has already sat out around 14 or 15 fourth quarters, and if the Thunder can keep him as fresh as possible going into the playoffs, it will be huge for them. In addition, being able to rest certain players lowers the chances of a key player getting hurt and avoids any more injuries. Whereas other teams could sustain injuries trying to improve their position in the playoffs.

The Negatives of the Thunder Resting Certain Guys

While there are many positives for the Thunder resting certain players, it will also bring possible negatives. The big one is rust. Since the NBA added the play-in games the teams that clinch seeds one through six in the playoffs get almost a week of rest before the playoffs. If the Thunder rest their starters and key role players down the stretch it could be a two-week stretch where their key guys don’t play. This means that when the Thunder are in the playoffs and want to be playing at their best, they could have some rust to get over which could hurt them, especially in the first round.

Another negative is the possibility of hurting players’ rhythms. Not only do you want to play your best in the playoffs, but you also want to be playing your best heading into the playoffs. You want your players to be entering the playoffs with a lot of confidence and a nice rhythm to their game. However, if you rest certain players down the stretch, you could hurt that player’s rhythm heading into the playoffs. Especially for role players who don’t take a lot of shots compared to star players.

How the Thunder Should Handle Rust vs. Rest

It will be interesting to see how the Thunder handle the rust vs rest problem down the stretch. However, we have seen glimpses of how the Thunder will handle this going down the stretch. That is, by finding certain games here and there to rest your starters while also playing them in the majority of the last 11 games. This way, you can get rest for some of your key players while also maintaining their rhythm heading into the playoffs. It is essentially the best of both worlds. However, in the last two or three games, the Thunder might only want to play their key guys for the first half or first quarter, allowing them to play and get rest at the same time.

The Last Word

Last year, it took the last game of the regular season for OKC to claim the number one seed. This meant they were one of those teams that had to play their starters down the stretch for seeding. However, this year has been different, as they have locked up the number one seed with plenty of games left to spare. They already got a glimpse of what that week between the last game of the season and the first game of the playoffs brought in terms of rust and struggle towards the team. It will be interesting to see how the Thunder and Mark Daigneault navigate this last stretch of games with nothing to play for and knowing about that week off before the playoffs. However, Thunder fans should trust Mark and company to make the right decision for each player, as there is no right or wrong answer.