Coming into the year everyone knew the Oklahoma City Thunder would be a top-five team in the league. However, if we told you before the season started that up to this point, Chet Holmgren would have only played 28 games, Isaiah Hartenstein would have only played 54 games, and Alex Caruso would have only played 50 games, with six games left, they would be 64-12, everyone would have looked at us and said you are crazy. Impressively though, they have done just that. The Thunder are currently riding an 11-game winning streak and need to win out to become the third team ever in NBA history to reach 70 wins. A feat that people thought the Thunder wouldn’t get to at the All-Star break when they posted a 44-10 record.
The Thunder have the Rockets, the Lakers twice, the Suns, the Jazz, and the Pelicans left on their schedule. It is reasonable for this team to win out and get to 70 wins in the year. If they can beat the Rockets and Lakers twice there is a good chance they will with the other three teams not playing for anything this year. However, even though 70 wins is in striking distance should the Thunder chase winning 70 games?
Should The Thunder Chase 70 Wins?
Why The Thunder Should Chase 70 Wins
The Thunder are putting together one of the best regular seasons of all-time. They beat their franchise records like best start in franchise history, most consecutive wins in franchise history, and most wins in franchise history. Moreover, they are beating NBA records with the best record against another conference, the highest point differential by a team in a season, and are tied with the 1995-96 Bulls for the highest net rating of all time. This also doesn’t account for, how dominant their defense has been, leading every major statistical category this season.
If OKC can reach 70 wins this season and you add that to all the records they could break, this Thunder team could go down as the best regular season team ever. That is something a team would like to chase and a reason for the Thunder to strive and try to win out. This would also be the icing on the cake for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP case and why he should win the award despite how good of a year Nikola Jokic has been having.
Why they Shouldn’t Chase 70 Wins
However, on the flip side, even though it would be a nice feat to have there are reasons for the Thunder to not chase 70 wins. They have already locked up the number one seed in the West. In addition, they are three wins and one Cleveland loss away from locking up the overall number-one seed. The Thunder don’t have anything to play for in these last six games. Their focus should be on staying healthy and getting themselves ready for a deep run in the playoffs.
If the Thunder push themselves and try to win 70 games they could be risking injuries that could linger into the playoffs. This is something they want to avoid, especially with the injury-plagued season they have already had. In addition, the Thunder could still be experimenting with different lineup combinations to see what could work in the playoffs. While getting to 70 wins is a great accomplishment, the Thunder have bigger goals and aspirations for the season.
They Could Achieve it Without Trying
It is unclear how the Thunder will be tackling these last six games with nothing to play for and trying to navigate the rust vs. rest conundrum. However, even with them resting certain players or only playing them for a half, they could still reach 70 wins without trying based on who they are playing. The next three games for the Thunder are against the Rockets, and then a back-to-back with the Lakers. The Thunder will most likely play their key guys in those three games as they could learn important information against those teams in case they ever meet in the playoffs.
After those three games, they have the Suns, Pelicans, and Jazz to wrap up the regular season. These three games will be the three games the Thunder either rest certain key players or they only play them for so much and treat them almost like a preseason game. However, the Pelicans and Jazz aren’t playing for anything and are trying to improve their place in the draft lottery. The Suns are trying to get into the play-in tournament but could be without Kevin Durant for their matchup with the Thunder as he rolled his ankle recently. The Thunder could easily win these three games as well as the other three games regardless of how they attack them.
The Last Word
The Thunder achieving 70 wins would be an impressive accomplishment, especially, with everything they have dealt with this season. However, they don’t need to get to 70 wins to prove how good they are or their chances of having the best regular season of all-time. The Thunder have bigger aspirations this year like winning the NBA Finals, and they want to make sure they don’t ruin or harm their chances of doing that, even if that means not getting 70 wins. Ultimately, if they do end up getting to 70 wins it will be a great accomplishment the team can cherish, but if they don’t it isn’t the end of the world and they begin their journey to try and win the NBA Finals.
Photo credit: © Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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