Thunder emerging in West

For months, it has appeared that the NBA’s Western Conference playoffs would be all about the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs.

Nobody could possibly compete with the two teams that going into Tuesday night, had not lost a game at home between them. The Spurs and Warriors seemed destined to play in the conference finals, giving us one of the all-time series in NBA history. Yet, suddenly, it appears that a third team is threatening to enter the fray.

After siting on the perimeter of the elite contenders for the first few months of the season and even into 2016, the Oklahoma City Thunder are showcasing potential and ability we didn’t know was there. While Russell Westbrook is the biggest triple-double machine since Magic Johnson and Kevin Durant is a fantastic scorer, there was doubt as to whether the Thunder could raise their game up another notch.

Oklahoma City has answered the questions in March, rolling to a 52-23 mark overall. After starting 2-4 this month, the Thunder ripped off eight consecutive wins before losing without Durant on Tuesday to the Detroit Pistons on the road. The Thunder can also point out that they did not simply beat up on terrible opponents. The eight-game win streak included victories over the Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors and the aforementioned Spurs. All of those teams are currently in the playoffs.

With Durant and Westbrook leading the way, Oklahoma City has suddenly become very dangerous to both Golden State and San Antonio. The Thunder are not quite as talented around their superstars as the Spurs are around Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard, and the Warriors are around Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Steph Curry, but they are not barren. Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter can give quality minutes inside while Dion Waiters and Randy Foye are nice cogs on a playoff unit.

Without much question, the Thunder will get past either the Blazers or Jazz in the first round and then square up against the Spurs in the semifinals. This will give us one of the more entertaining series of the decade. San Antonio will be favored and rightfully so, but bear in mind that throughout three meetings this season, Oklahoma City has won twice.

While the West will still be looked upon as a two-horse race by many, the Thunder are making a bid to show there is a third team in the mix.