OKC one win away
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s magic number to clinch the West No. 1 seed is now one — any Thunder win or Spurs loss seals the top spot. San Antonio, meanwhile, has already clinched at least the No. 2 seed — a run powered by Victor Wembanyama’s breakout season. (oklahoman.com) (bleacherreport.com)
Oklahoma City enters Sunday with a 58-16 regular-season record; San Antonio sits at 56-18 in the Western Conference. (nba.com) Both teams have eight regular-season games left — OKC's next game is at home vs. the New York Knicks on March 29, and San Antonio hosts the Chicago Bulls on March 30. (nba.com) San Antonio won four of the five regular-season meetings between the clubs this year (Spurs victories on Dec. 13, Dec. 23, Dec. 25 and Feb. 4; Oklahoma City’s lone win came Jan. 13). (landofbasketball.com) The NBA’s tiebreaker rules list head-to-head record as the first criterion in a two-team tie, which would favor the Spurs given their 4-1 edge in the season series. (nba.com) NBA.com’s updated postseason bracket projects Oklahoma City as the No. 1 seed and San Antonio as the No. 2 seed, matching the Thunder with an 8-seed play-in winner and the Spurs with the 7-seed play-in winner in the first round. (nba.com) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.6 points per game for Oklahoma City this season while Victor Wembanyama is averaging roughly 24.3 points and 11.1 rebounds for San Antonio, according to team stat comparisons. (espn.com)
