Thunder clinch No.1 West
The Oklahoma City Thunder extended a seven‑game win streak and clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference while Isaiah Joe scored 21 points (with four 3‑pointers) and Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander had 20 points and 11 assists in the win. (x.com)
Oklahoma City just locked up the top seed in the Western Conference again, and this time it came with the best record in the entire National Basketball Association after a 128-110 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, April 8. Chet Holmgren led that game with 30 points and 14 rebounds, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 20 points and 11 assists. (apnews.com) That means every Western Conference playoff series the Thunder play before the Finals will start in Oklahoma City, because the No. 1 seed gets home-court advantage. The league said the SoFi Play-In Tournament begins April 14 and the playoffs begin April 18. (nba.com) The part that jumps out is how normal this is starting to look. This is Oklahoma City’s third straight No. 1 seed in the West, and The Associated Press noted that puts the defending champions in rare company. (apnews.com) The standings show why nobody can catch them now. Basketball-Reference listed the Thunder at 61-16 on April 9, with the San Antonio Spurs at 59-18, so Oklahoma City had already created enough separation with only a few games left. (basketball-reference.com) This was not a one-night sprint at the finish line. Yahoo Sports reported the Thunder went wire-to-wire atop the conference, and it is the first time in franchise history they have won at least 60 games in back-to-back seasons. (sports.yahoo.com) The engine is still Gilgeous-Alexander, but the shape of this team is bigger than one scorer now. Holmgren’s 30-point, 14-rebound night against the Clippers showed how much pressure Oklahoma City can put on teams even when defenses load up on its star guard. (apnews.com) The other reason this team is hard to handle is that its role players can swing games fast. In the clinching win from your prompt, Isaiah Joe hit four three-pointers and scored 21 points, which is the kind of bench shooting that turns a close second quarter into a 15-point hole. (x.com) Oklahoma City has reached the point where the regular season is no longer about proving it belongs near the top. With the West bracket set to run through Oklahoma City again, the question is whether anyone can beat a 61-win team four times in seven games before June. (basketball-reference.com)
