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2/25/15: The Oklahoma Thunder may now be the best team in the West, even though they only hold the eighth spot in the playoff race. But the team is healthy and hot. The Thunder were active at the trade deadline last week, participating in a three team deal to rid themselves of Reggie Jackson. In return, the team got Enes Kanter from Utah. Jackson, earlier in the season , skipped a game in protest of not being traded already. While he is a talented player that was stuck on the bench in Oklahoma, the Thunder will not miss him and he is Detroit's problem now.

2/18/15: Oklahoma City has done a terrific job of climbing their way out of an early season hole to get three games over .500 at the All Star break. That puts them just a half game out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. But there still another 29 games to play and the West is wide open. The Thunder buried the number two team in the West, Memphis Grizzlies, just before the break - making the statement that even though they aren't in the playoff yet, they will be and everyone better look out. It may be tough to move up to the seventh seed, but the eighth is in play and they may be the best eight seed in the history of the NBA.

2/11/15: Thunder star Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the game. He has always been portrayed as a nice guy who has massive amounts of talent and plays hard. Recently, though, Durant has cultivated the beginnings of a villain persona. That is not a bad thing, and is probably more a result of him speaking his mind more. Many people, including Charles Barkley, do not believe he deserves a spot in the All Star Game this season. The talent is undeniable, but he missed a lot of games to injury. Durant has a simple response: "Whoever wants my spot can play me one-on-one for it". Consider the gauntlet thrown.

2/5/15: Oklahoma City has done a nice job of getting back into the playoff hunt over the past few weeks, though they are still about seven wins shy of catching the eighth and last seed. While big injuries to both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were a big cause of the team's terrible start (and Durant was out again last week), missing the playoffs may spell the end of Scott Brooks' time as head coach of the Thunder. If OKC does replace Brooks, they would have one more year on Durant's current contract to convince him to re-sign rather than lose him (possibly to the Washington Wizards) in free agency.

1/28/15: The Oklahoma City Thunder have finally passed the Mendoza Line of .500 and appear to be closing in on a playoff spot this season. Of course, the Thunder were ravaged by injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook early in the season, and that led to their terrible start. Missing over half of the team's games so far has hurt Durant in All Star r voting as well. He is fifth in front court voting, so he is unlikely to make the All Star Game through that avenue. However, it is difficult to imagine Durant not being a coach's pick, so he still is likely to play in the game.

1/21/15: Oklahoma City is making it pretty tough on themselves to get into the playoff picture. It's a good thing that they have a few more months to go in the regular season. The Thunder dropped their third game in four outings when they fell to the visiting Houston Rockets. The Rockets bolted out to a 40-18 lead after just one quarter, and that was too big of a hole to dig out of as they lost 112-101. Former Thunder player James Harden came up big, putting in 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds on the night.

1/14/15: Another week has passed and the Thunder are no closer to making the NBA playoffs than they were seven days earlier. Actually, they have fallen back a little bit. The Thunder have been inconsistent over the last few weeks as they try to claw their way back to being in the top eight teams in the conference. Oklahoma City did acquire Dion Waiters last week, and that could give them a little help off the bench. In his second game with the team, he finished 7 of 14 from the floor for 15 points. He is only 23 years old, so he could become a fixture on the Thunder for several years.

1/7/15: The Oklahoma City Thunder continue to push their way back into playoff contention, which is not easy in the Western Conference and made only harder by the poor start the team had while both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were injured. But they are getting closer and closing in on the eighth ranked Phoenix Suns. They even picked up two points against the Suns last week in a 137-134 overtime win. That was a good win for the team, especially since Westbrook was ejected. But Durant poured in 44 points to pick up the slack, and get the team within two games of a playoff spot.

12/3/14: The Thunder have had a terrible time this season as their two best players, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, have basically been out for the entire season to date due to injuries. They have also had some other injuries as well, so it is not surprising that they won only four of their first 16 games. But there is some great news. Westbrook returned to action and was in mid-season form. He dropped 32 points in 24 minutes as the Thunder embarrassed the New York Knicks 105-78. The season is still young and the Thunder are getting healthier, so there is a chance they can salvage this campaign.

11/19/14: The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking the smart and pragmatic approach to this season. They have been famously decimated by injuries, including big ones to their best two players, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. It got so bad that the NBA allowed them to sign a 16th player a few weeks ago so they would have enough players. The Thunder are off to a slow start at 3-6, but understand that this season is about getting to the playoffs. Once there, and assuming that they are healthy, they have the talent to compete with anyone and finally win that elusive championship.

11/12/14: It seems that every season, in every major professional sport, one solid team is completely decimated by injuries. In hockey, it is the Columbus Blue Jackets. In baseball, it was the Texas Rangers, and in basketball, it seems to be the Oklahoma Thunder. The list of injured players is long: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones, Anthony Morrow, Andre Roberson, Mitch McGary and Grant Jerrett. That is almost a full team. The Thunder made a move to help out by signing Ish Smith last week as a 16th player. That is normally against the rules, but the Thunder are so hurt that the NBA gave them a waiver.

11/5/14: It was bad enough that the Thunder lost star Kevin Durant for a good portion of the season. It was worse when the team lost their opener to the host L.A. Clippers 93-90. Now, it seems like the fix is in. OKC lost Russell Westbrook to a broken hand and he is likely out for four to six weeks. The Thunder are going to have to muscle through losing their best two players for a while. The good thing is that when both return, they will be fresh, and they will have plenty of time to get to the playoffs and make their statement then.

Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Finals Tickets

The Thunder's first round NBA Playoff matchup this year was against Harden and his new team, and Westbrook suffered a knee injury midway through the series that now has the All Star point guard sitting in a luxury suite during the games. Now without his two most valuable sidekicks from last year's NBA Finals journey, Durant is being tested not only as the player he is now, but also as the player he will be remembered as in the history of the league. Often regarded as the second best player in the league behind only the other-wordly James, fans are looking to see if Durant can take another leap forward as the one and only leader on his team. We know Durant can fill the hoop - his scoring titles show that. But can he fill the void of teammates gone and injured as the Oklahoma City Thunder attempt to fill an open spot in their Chesapeake Energy Arena trophy case with an NBA Finals trophy?

Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Finals History

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OKC Thunder NBA Playoffs 2013