OKC sits four starters in Portland
PORTLAND, Ore. — With the third
seed officially clinched, Billy Donovan is jumping at the chance to get some of his key players rest down the stretch.
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook,
Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson all sat out on Wednesday night in Portland.
“We try to see where our guys are at physically — time of year, minutes logged, back-to-back, that sort of thing,” Donovan said.
Plus, it could come with an added bonus. Right now, the Blazers are the sixth seed, which would mean a first round matchup with the Thunder. But Portland is only a half-game back of the injury-ravaged Grizzlies, who have a tough closing schedule. Should the Blazers pass the Grizzlies, OKC avoids Portland and gets either Memphis, Utah, Dallas or Houston.
This is Westbrook’s first missed game of the season, Durant’s eighth, Ibaka’s third and Roberson’s 12th.
Randy Foye, Dion Waiters, Anthony Morrow and Enes Kanter
started in their place, joining Steven Adams.
PERK SPEAKS ON KD FREE AGENCY
Former Thunder center Kendrick Perkins was in Boston on Wednesday night. And before his Pelicans played the Celtics, he was asked a batch of questions about Durant’s impending free agency.
Perkins still talks to Durant regularly, though he said most of their conversations are void of the free agency talk. But Perkins, never one to hold his tongue, did drop a few minor nuggets.
“I know he’s getting this question every day on the hour and stuff like that, so I try not to bother him,” Perkins told reporters. “But he did shoot some teams out there that he made me sign a confidentiality form that I couldn’t tell nobody. He’s got a few teams that he will be looking at.”
When asked whether he could see Durant staying in OKC, Perkins said: “It’s a possibility. I think it all (depends) on what happens in these playoffs. They win it all, he can’t leave in my opinion. But if they don’t, it might be time for a change.”
Perkins was then asked whether he’d steer Durant toward Boston: “No. I would tell him to come wherever I’m at. Why would I do that?”
McGARY ABSENT
Despite available playing time on Wednesday night, Mitch McGary was absent. He’s away from the Thunder for the rest of the road trip because of a personal matter.
FINALS HOMECOURT?
It doesn’t matter if the Thunder wins its final four games or loses them all. OKC is locked into the third seed in the West.
But a minor sliver of postseason positioning remains available for the Thunder. Should OKC make it through the West — a daunting task considering the two historical teams in the way — homecourt for the Finals is still in question.
Entering Thursday, the Thunder is 54-25. The Cavaliers are 56-23. OKC plays the Kings, Lakers and Spurs. Cleveland plays the Bulls, Hawks and Pistons.
But because OKC lost both its games to the Cavaliers this season, Cleveland holds the tiebreaker. So the only way to secure homecourt in a potential Finals series would be to finish with a better record. To do that, the Thunder would need to finish either sweep its final three games, while the Cavaliers would have to lose out. An unlikely scenario.
But Cleveland isn’t a lock for the Finals. Plenty can happen in April and May. And should OKC get there and meet someone else, it has already secured homecourt against everyone except for the Raptors.
Toronto, at 53-25, is one game back of the Thunder with five games left. The two teams split the season series. Conference record is the next tiebreaker. Should Toronto play well enough down the stretch to finish tied with the Thunder, the Raptors would have a better conference record, giving them homecourt.
But all of this, Donovan said, is far from the Thunder’s mind right now.
“Nah, I don’t think (it’s a concern),” Donovan said. “Certainly you want to finish as high as you can. But the biggest thing is how you’re playing. To me, saying right now, hey guys, we need to worry about Cleveland and homecourt. To me, it’s not about that. It’s about where do we need to improve? Because everything is about getting better in the here and now.”