Oklahoma City Thunder Schedule Breakdown and Record Predictions for December
November has been a month to forget for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the holiday season is bringing the best present head coach Scott Brooks could ask for. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both recovering nicely from their respective injuries and could be back soon to rescue OKC from the depths of their 3-12 start, according to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman.
Even with the superstars back in the fold, however, it’s going to be an arduous trek back into the playoff picture in the wild, wild West. It’s always a dangerous exercise to forecast the schedule on paper, but that’s exactly what we’re going to do to get an idea of how much trouble the Thunder are in.
The month of December is going to make or break OKC’s season because there is no margin for error. OKC cannot afford to lose to the league’s bottom-feeders, nor can the Thunder afford for Durant and Westbrook to show significant signs of rust. Another injury to either of them would be devastating and all but extinguish any playoff hopes.
With their dominant one-two punch back on the court, here’s what awaits the Thunder in December. Each week will get its own slide complete with the schedule, a breakdown of the most interesting and important matchups and a prediction for OKC’s record. The last slide will contain a prediction for the entire month’s record and some goals for the Thunder to keep them in the hunt for a chance to play the role of Cinderella when the playoffs roll around.
Week 1
1 of 6
Schedule: at New Orleans Pelicans (Dec. 2); at Philadelphia 76ers (Dec. 5)
Game of the Week: New Orleans Pelicans
With three days off before the first game of December, OKC should be well rested when it travels to the Big Easy to face Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans in what is clearly its most important game of the week.
For starters, it’s hard to ascribe true significance to a game against the Philadelphia 76ers other than the fact that it’s one OKC absolutely has to (and should) win.
But the Pelicans figure to be in the hunt for the eighth seed in the West, so this season series could play a pivotal role as the tiebreaker in the standings. Nothing is assured for the Thunder, and beating the Pelicans could be the difference between making the playoffs and watching them from home.
Another reason why the New Orleans game will be critical is because there is a chance that Durant isn’t back yet. According to Marissa Payne of The Washington Post, it is likely that Westbrook is back for this game since many are expecting him to suit up the day after Thanksgiving against the New York Knicks.
The OKC staff is being a little less cavalier with the word on Durant’s injury status, and the nature of his injury (a stress fracture in his foot) means that it would be unwise to rush him back and risk long-term damage.
Securing a Durant-less victory would be huge for the Thunder, especially given the caliber of the opponent. Anthony Davis is playing at an MVP level, but Serge Ibaka is one of the few big men who should be able to match his athleticism to some extent. Davis will, of course, have an edge, but he shouldn’t be able to destroy Ibaka with his quickness nor leap over him at the rim.
Getting Westbrook back and being able to contain Davis (within reason) should give OKC the upper hand here and a crucial victory.
Weekly Record Prediction: 2-0 (W, W)
Week 2
2 of 6
Schedule: at Detroit Pistons (Dec. 7); vs. Milwaukee Bucks (Dec. 9); vs. Cleveland Cavaliers (Dec. 11); at Minnesota Timberwolves (Dec. 12)
Game of the Week: Cleveland Cavaliers
Any time LeBron James and Kevin Durant (assuming he’s back) face off, it’s a lock to be one of the more fascinating games of the season, but don’t sleep on that game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Head coach Jason Kidd has his team playing top-10 defense, and the Bucks are just frisky enough to cause potential problems for OKC with their defensive versatility.
Furthermore, the game should feature an all-time lankiness matchup if we ever get the viewing pleasure of Giannis Antetokounmpo guarding Kevin Durant. That’s a combined 14’8” of wingspan in case you were wondering (Jay Bilas is weeping somewhere).
But back to the Cavaliers. This will be their 21st game of the season, so they should theoretically be starting to jell and figure things out. Even if that’s the case, it’s going to take a tremendous turnaround (or a trade) to get this team playing passable NBA defense.
This figures to be the first big game of OKC’s season featuring both Durant and Westbrook, and given the opponent, you can bet the Chesapeake Energy Arena will be rocking. A frenzied home crowd plus a porous Cavs defense should equal a meaningful Thunder victory as OKC starts to emerge as a dark-horse contender.
Normally, the next game (the second leg of a back-to-back on the road against a weak opponent) would spell a trap, but the Timberwolves are so banged up that OKC should be fine, resulting in a second straight undefeated week.
Weekly Record Prediction: 4-0 (W, W, W, W)
Week 3
3 of 6
Schedule: vs. Phoenix Suns (Dec. 14); at Sacramento Kings (Dec. 16); at Golden State Warriors (Dec. 18); at Los Angeles Lakers (Dec. 19)
Game of the Week: Golden State Warriors
After two relatively carefree weeks, the third week of December could spell trouble for the Thunder. They should be able to dispatch of the Lakers with relative ease, but Phoenix and Sacramento project to be in the thick of the competition for the eighth seed, and the Warriors look like legitimate championship contenders so far.
Let’s not forget that the Suns actually won the season series against OKC last year (albeit by winning their two home games) and that the depth and pace of Jeff Hornacek’s squad could pose problems for OKC. The ability to throw Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic on Westbrook while rotating the Morris twins, P.J. Tucker and even Gerald Green on Durant will hamper the OKC offense and hand the Thunder their first loss of the month.
Nevertheless, the juiciest matchup of week (and possibly the month) will take place in Golden State. These two teams gave us plenty of thrills and highlights last year. Their three games were decided by a total of eight points, and the lowest-scoring game “only” featured a combined 225 points.
Much like Phoenix, Golden State boasts the versatility to hang with the Thunder and are exceptional at home (5-1, and they’re outscoring opponents by 12.2 points per game at Oracle Arena so far). The all-around excellence of the Warriors and a raucous atmosphere should overwhelm an OKC team playing its fifth game in eight nights.
Weekly Record Prediction: 2-2 (L, W, L, W)
Week 4
4 of 6
Schedule: vs. New Orleans Pelicans (Dec. 21); vs. Portland Trail Blazers (Dec. 23); at San Antonio Spurs (Dec. 25); vs. Charlotte Hornets (Dec. 26)
Game of the Week: San Antonio Spurs
This week is also no cakewalk for the Thunder, as these opponents could all be playoff teams. The Trail Blazers in particular have played OKC well in recent history, and that game should be a nail-biter. Ultimately, however, all eyes will be focused on the highly anticipated game against the Spurs.
The Grinch almost robbed us of an epic Christmas Day matchup against the reigning champions when Durant and Westbrook both got injured, but thankfully, we should still be treated to a great game. OKC has become a rather unfavorable matchup for the Spurs recently, winning six of their last eight regular-season matchups.
The Thunder’s athleticism has been problematic for San Antonio, and I expect the trend to continue this year—at least in the regular season.
Weekly Record Prediction: 3-1 (W, L, W, W)
Week 5
5 of 6
Schedule: at Dallas Mavericks (Dec. 28); vs. Phoenix Suns (Dec. 31)
Game of the Week: Dallas Mavericks
Both of these games should be entertaining, high-scoring and close. Dallas’ offense is operating at all-time levels right now, and while some cooling off should be expected, there’s no reason the Mavs should struggle to put up points against any opponent.
It’s hard to pick either of these games, but Dallas will have the edge at home. Similarly, the aforementioned versatility of the Suns makes them an intriguing matchup for OKC, but it’s hard to imagine them winning two games in Oklahoma. Whether they win this week or on Dec. 14, it hardly seems unreasonable to imagine Phoenix splitting those games.
Weekly Record Prediction: 1-1 (L, W)
The Month of December
6 of 6
In the highly unlikely event that all of these predictions are accurate, the Thunder will finish December with a 12-4 record that will push them closer to .500 on the season. A fully healthy OKC team can beat anybody in the league, so the only real question is the health of its two stars.
Thankfully, the early portion of the December schedule is relatively favorable, and that should allow both Durant and Westbrook to round into form to unleash a rejuvenated Thunder squad on a West-heavy schedule in the second half of the month.
Getting back to around the .500 mark this early would be a tremendous win for OKC and would definitely put them in the driver’s seat ahead of rivals like the Pelicans and Suns for that last playoff spot.
The realistic goal for this Thunder team should be 50 wins. Hitting that mark should guarantee them a spot in the playoffs, as the average win total for Western Conference eighth seeds over the last five years is 47 wins.
With 49 games left on the schedule after the end of 2014 and OKC hovering above a .700 winning percentage over their last three seasons, the Thunder have to win at least 10 games in December. Even that would put them in the unenviable position of having to win more than 75 percent of their remaining games. That’s certainly possible for a Durant-and-Westbrook-led team, but that leaves absolutely no room for even a minor injury or a cold shooting spell.
Hitting the 12 wins that are predicted here would give them a very good chance at hitting that 50-win mark and catapulting them into the playoffs as a No. 8 seed that nobody wants to face.
Predicted December Record: 12-4
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