Race to #1 Seed, San Antonio or Oklahoma City?

[Budkin]

I wish I had your confidence....or lack of it.

Looking forward to a great game Thursday night..I will be there. Look for me...the one in Thunder Blue..

I'll make sure I keep an eye out for ya.

[BermudaSooner]

Would you please comment on why OKC has problems with DEN (3 losses iirc)?

Good question. In the game in Denver back on March 1st the Nuggest bench outscored the Thunder bench 71-11. In the last game where the Thunder never looked good, Russ and KD had great games point games, but took a lot of shots. I think KD was 0-6 from 3 or something. In the game in January, both KD and Russ went for over 30..although that was 2OT.

I don't know...maybe it all comes down to when Russell blocked the Nugget's mascot's half court shot. That was hilarious...but kind of a ty thing to do, and we haven't won against them since!

[cd021]

The Heat, Thunder, Knicks, and Nuggets are all playing great basketball right now and peaking at the right moment. Meanwhile, we've been terrible the last two weeks, with gutless Parker disappearing in every fourth quarter and having to rely on our 37 year old HOFer to bail us out every time.

Don't tell me you're one of those fans who doesn't think Parker is clutch. You must have closed your eyes for most of the season.

[Chris16]

Don't tell me you're one of those fans who doesn't think Parker is clutch. You must have closed your eyes for most of the season.

He's 50-50, he'll either make it or he won't.

[cd021]

He's 50-50, he'll either make it or he won't.

Parkers cold blooded. Dude apparently didn't think so. Annoys me, is all.

[Hoops Czar]

They've been bad since the break and it's going to cost them HCA against the Thunder unless OKC coughs up a lung losing to inferior compe ion. The Spurs have a much tougher schedule to close out the season.

[Beaverfuzz]

Looks likely that OKC will have the pleasure of sending the Lakers home in the 1st round

You misspelled Utah.

[Killakobe81]

He's 50-50, he'll either make it or he won't.

If he realy is 50-50 that is great most clutch stats are lower than 50% and great players go on streaks of "clutch" no one not MJ, Kobe, Bird etc is automatic in teh clutch, it just seems that way because they seem to make some dramatric ones (playoffs national TV games)

PArker is clutch just on a clutch cold streak lately ... trust me I dont liek Frenchy but dont get why he gets so much criticism here. At one point there were folks arguing MVP and first team aLL NBA for PArker but now he is NOT clutch?! MAkes no sense tbh ... which is it? truth is PArker is not a MVP but he is not some unclutch star (think Malone or KG) either ...

[cd021]

If he realy is 50-50 that is great most clutch stats are lower than 50% and great players go on streaks of "clutch" no one not MJ, Kobe, Bird etc is automatic in teh clutch, it just seems that way because they seem to make some dramatric ones (playoffs national TV games)

PArker is clutch just on a clutch cold streak lately ... trust me I dont liek Frenchy but dont get why he gets so much criticism here. At one point there were folks arguing MVP and first team aLL NBA for PArker but now he is NOT clutch?! MAkes no sense tbh ... which is it? truth is PArker is not a MVP but he is not some unclutch star (think Malone or KG) either ...

Personally, "Clutchness" is massively overrated. Hitting back to back 3's to cut a 10 point deficit to 4 with 10 minutes left in the 4th on the road is obviously clutch. The same as shot made within the final minute of a game. Points count the same in every situation of a 48 minute game, contrary to Skip Bayless laughable "Lebron no clutch gene James" theory.

Parker is a fantastic closer whether he scores 10 points and 4 assists in the final quarter or finds Green for a 3 to push a 1 point lead to 4 with 29 seconds left. Either way he is clutch as they come.

[thunderup]

Game tonight. I cannot wait.

[Fireball]

Game tonight. I cannot wait.

And you have good reason to. Spurs are banged up and stand little chance playing in Oklahoma. Your crowd will be in playoff mode ...

[Bruno]

With a spurs win today, they will have 2 less losses and have the tie breaker. With only 6 games left, they would be in a great situation to keep the first seed.

A loss would put both teams tied at 20 losses and OKC will have the tie breaker.

Even if this game is the 4th in 5 days for Spurs, Pop has managed minutes in a way that the key players should be fresh for it so it should be a fun game.

And at the end, I'm not sure if I want Spurs to keep that first seed. HCA in a 7 games series is overrated and, with, at best, a limited Ginobili, Spurs would be vulnerable in the first round. After being healthy and fresh, having the easiest opponent in the first round should be Spurs biggest priority and I'm not really sure who would be easier between the 7th and the 8th seed.

[thunderup]

And you have good reason to. Spurs are banged up and stand little chance playing in Oklahoma. Your crowd will be in playoff mode ...

Pop has carefully managed yalls team to the point that yall can compete with anybody despite the obvious injuries. If yall guys jump out to a sizable lead of 8+ yall will control the game and eek out a win. We have been inconsistent as of late and I believe we'll come out flat since we haven't played in forever.

Anyhow goodluck to you and your team partner. God bless.

[kobyz]

just a clarification, if we lose tonight to OKC and OKC also win tomorrow against Pacers it will make both teams with the same record, who will hold the number 1 seed in that situation?

[objective]

I would rather have 8th. Houston is just the type of team to upset the Spurs. Especially with a hobbled Ginobili. The Spurs have nobody to check Harden. And the team as a whole puts up threes like no one else, and Green and Neal love leaving shooters open. Asik can tie Duncan up. Donatas can be a tough cover. I just have bad feelings about meeting the Rockets.

[exstatic]

just a clarification, if we lose tonight to OKC and OKC also win tomorrow against Pacers it will make both teams with the same record, who will hold the number 1 seed in that situation?

OKC. They would have the better Western Conference record by two games in the loss column. If we lose tonight, they have the inside track. We'd have to finish one game ahead of them to take the top spot.

[Fireball]

Pop has carefully managed yalls team to the point that yall can compete with anybody despite the obvious injuries. If yall guys jump out to a sizable lead of 8+ yall will control the game and eek out a win. We have been inconsistent as of late and I believe we'll come out flat since we haven't played in forever.

Yeah, I hope the Thunder are a little too anxious to be on the court again. But anything other than a 20+ lead is not sizeable enough for the Spurs, as they too have been very inconsistent the last few weeks. Hopefully no new injuries occur ... still looking forward to the game as well.

[TheGoldStandard]

Its 8 in the morning and I'm already excited for this game tonight.

[dbreiden83080]

I'd rather Pop start shutting them down for health and give the 1 seed to OKC. Looking at the seeding i don't think it really matters. First round match up with Houston is tough but Spurs should win in 6. After that it is probably Denver another tough series but if they get the 1 seed it is a first round match up with the Lakers and probably Clips or Memphis in 2nd round. The path is tough nomatter what and i don't want the Spurs to beat themselves to death just for 1 extra Home game vs OKC. They had HC last year and lost.. I'd rather start shutting it down after tonight and be somewhat healthy..

[BermudaSooner]

Its 8 in the morning and I'm already excited for this game tonight.

Me too...can't wait to get to the stadium!

[Budkin]

All I'm interested in is seeing if Parker can adjust to their defense.

[kaji157]

As the seeding is right now, let´s forget the first round because i think Spurs OKC can beat any 7 or 8th seeds easilly.
Looking at the other teams, if playoffs started right now, #1 seed would get a second round against either LAC or MEN, while #2 would ge DEN or GS.
As of now #2 seed seems better.

[cd021]

I would rather have 8th. Houston is just the type of team to upset the Spurs. Especially with a hobbled Ginobili. The Spurs have nobody to check Harden. And the team as a whole puts up threes like no one else, and Green and Neal love leaving shooters open. Asik can tie Duncan up. Donatas can be a tough cover. I just have bad feelings about meeting the Rockets.

Some of thats the scheme the spurs run. Green is forced to chase shooters off the 3 point line. Neal is just bad defensively. The Rockets can't upset the spurs in a 7 game series. You saw what Parker did to those Phoenix teams when he was still becoming a star. I'd expect nothing less than 25pts, 7 assists per game from Parker. Duncan, in the past, would have been bothered by long armed defenders (Camby, Rasheed & Ben Wallace Etc.) But he is shooting more and more from the 15-18 ft range. And is agile enough to pump and drive in the paint for a better shot. His post offense isn't nearly as important to Duncan's offense as it has been.

[Johnny RIngo]

lol at having to rely on beating the Thunder in OKC to keep homecourt. We could have locked this up if we actually played competent basketball down the stretch against the Grizzlies/Heat scrubs/Rockets. Now the Thunder are going to have a cakewalk opponent in the first round while SA has to play the Rockets.

[bklynspursfan]

OKC is in Indiana tomorrow. And we're home against Atlanta Saturday, then off till Wednesday. OKC has NY on Sunday. They need to win games just like we do