OKC Thunder missed out on big opportunity in Western Conference playoff position struggle

After losing to the Portland Trail Blazers, the OKC Thunder are now in seventh place in the West. With how crowded it is for 3-8, that could change fast.

The Golden State Warriors are half a game behind the Houston Rockets for the top spot in the Western Conference After those two teams, the 3-seed through the 8-seed is a toss-up. Before their game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, the Oklahoma City Thunder were in the third spot. After the loss, the OKC Thunder fell to seventh.

That is the grind now for teams in the Western Conference. With the top two spots seemingly out of reach, the fight is on for the third spot.

Portland holds the 3-seed after beating the Thunder. Although OKC is in the seventh, it is only a game and a half behind the Blazers for No. 3.

Without Kawhi Leonard, the San Antonio Spurs are plummeting down the standings and if he does not return soon, they could even miss the playoffs. League sources told ESPN he could be back this month.

The Minnesota Timberwolves also lost to Portland recently and are on a two-game losing streak at a bad time. The New Orleans Pelicans are currently on fire as they have won their last seven games. This comes even after they lost DeMarcus Cousins.

Four of the top five teams in the West currently have a winning streak of five or more games. If the Thunder want to move up, they will have to string together wins.

That is especially crucial since they do not own the tiebreaker against Portland, Minnesota or New Orleans. If they have more wins than the other team a tiebreaker will not have to determine anything.

In the game against Portland, the Thunder did not have Carmelo Anthony due to rest. Anthony is 33 years oldm but these are games that the Thunder need to win and there was a big opportunity missed.

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The Thunder only have 17 games left and the roster is set after signing Corey Brewer, who fits the system. Brewer played for head coach Billy Donovan at Florida.

The Thunder failed to get a sixth man, which could of helped their offensive problems, but they still have three of the best players in the league so in a seven-game format, there is a chance they will elevate their game and play well against heightened competition.

The Thunder have proved they can beat the best as they have beaten both Houston and Golden State. They have beaten the Toronto Raptors and dismantled the Eastern Conference champ from last year in the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The schedule is looking tough in the next 17 games as they have to face the Warriors once, the Rockets twice, San Antonio once, Toronto once and Boston once.

There are more games against inferior competition, but that is where OKC has struggled. They have lost head-scratchers against teams they should beat easily on paper, like the Brooklyn Nets and the Dallas Mavericks.

If you look at the numbers though, especially recently, it is not that bad. In total against the current lottery teams they are 22-12, and in the past 18 games they are 14-4 while winning six straight currently.

That most likely has to do with the fact that the new pieces the Thunder had with Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Patrick Patterson and Raymond Felton had to jell earlier in the season. Now with more than half of the season under their belt, there is more continuity.

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It looks like things have changed for the Thunder in their woes against inferior teams. That, combined with their success against dominant teams, could help the Thunder secure the third seed.