The Thunder's Playoff Path Is Becoming Clearer

The full playoff path for Oklahoma City is starting to take shape. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder are still waiting to see who their round two opponent will be, as the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets is yet to conclude. However, another series in the West has just wrapped up, and its result could have major implications on the future of OKC’s playoff run. 

The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets have concluded their series as the Timberwolves won Game 6, winning the series 4-2. This matches Minnesota up to play the San Antonio Spurs in the second round, which is set to start on Monday. It would be up in the air who Oklahoma City would play in the Western Conference Finals, assuming they made it past the second round as well, but certain factors have made it a little more telling who the Thunder would face. 

During their series against the Nuggets, the Timberwolves lost multiple key players to injury. Guard Donte DiVincenzo tore his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the series and will miss the rest of the season. Minnesota will also enter its next series without star player Anthony Edwards, as he suffered a bone bruise and hyperextended his knee during the series. With the Timberwolves being down multiple key players, it looks like the team standing in its path down the road could be San Antonio. 

The Thunder know whoever they face will be a challenge, but the Spurs have already proven to be a challenge. The Thunder went 1-4 against the Spurs this season, with every bout feeling like there was nothing OKC could do to flip the tide of the game. However, the playoffs are different than the postseason, and Oklahoma City has a lot more experience in the playoffs than the young Spurs team has. 

Nonetheless, this Spurs team has already exceeded expectations that the world had put on them for this season, and they will truly be playing with nothing to lose if they reach that point. The Thunder will have to prepare for this and be ready when the time comes to show San Antonio what real playoff basketball looks like. 

Now this is all assuming both the Thunder and Spurs continue to win, and there are plenty of factors that could hinder this assumption. Ultimately, the path towards the NBA Finals is becoming clearer, but it's not showing signs of becoming easier. In every matchup, OKC gets thrown into it will have to be ready for its opponent's best game, which goes for the second round, all the way to the Finals.