Thunder Hands Sixers 15th Straight Loss
It is safe to say that the Philadelphia 76ers are mailing it in. They have lost 15 straight and tonight were pounded by the Oklahoma City Thunder 125 -93. The win was the Thunder’s third in a row after having been struggling as of late. Kevin Durant scored 42 points to go with Russell Westbrook and his triple-double to run their record to a Western Conference leading 46-15. They lead the San Antonio Spurs for the number one seed in the West by 1.5 games. The Spurs are quietly going about their business at 44-15.
The Phoenix Suns await the Thunder on Thursday night. One of this year’s surprise teams, the Suns really need a win to stay in the top eight in the West. They are one half game up on the Memphis Grizzlies after dropping one on Tuesday to the Los Angeles Clippers. This could be a tough game for the Thunder, but we like them to prevail. After they leave Phoenix, they travel to face the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. The Lakers have really fallen on hard times as right now they are in a three way tie for dead last in the conference. On Tuesday, they have a big game at home with the Houston Rockets who may be their opponents in the Western Conference Finals. The Rockets handed the two-time champion Miami Heat a 106-105 loss on Tuesday.
The longer the regular season goes on, the more the cream are rising to the top of the standings. The Thunder spent a great deal of the first half looking up at the Portland Trail Blazers but now lead them by 4.5 in the Northwest Division of the NBA. For those people who say the 82 game season is too long and that the 50 game season of two years ago was just about right, shame on you. These last 32 games is what separates the good teams from the great teams. And in basketball, where home court means so much, you want the teams who have it for the playoffs to have earned it. The Thunder, Spurs, Clippers and Rockets look to be the teams that will earn it, and if all hold serve in the first round, the last two rounds in the West should be really entertaining.
However, the other four teams who make the playoffs from the West, including the Blazers and perhaps the Suns, will be tough on the opposition. But in the end, it looks as if Durant and Westbrook are getting it together fro a great stretch drive and another run to the Finals, which would be their second in three seasons.
