The 2022-23 NBA regular season officially ends exactly a month from today as April 9 is the last day. Which means in about four week, we’ll find out whether or not the Oklahoma City Thunder (31-35) will participate in the Play-In tournament or prepare for the NBA draft lottery.
The Thunder are on the fence of either side — they are one game back from the 10th seed and 1.5 games back in the reverse standings from the sixth-best lottery odds.
The Thunder have 16 games remaining on their schedule — 10 on the road and six at home. According to Tankathon, the Thunder have the fourth-easiest remaining strength of schedule left.
The Thunder have three back-to-back’s remaining on their schedule, which means six of their final 16 games will be played on consecutive days.
This is important to point out because Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault alluded to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sitting out half of back-to-back’s for the remainder of the season to deal with an abdominal strain he is currently playing through — which means that Gilgeous-Alexander will likely miss three additional games at the minimum.
Let’s take a look at the final 16 games of their schedule as the Thunder fight to keep their playoff hopes alive in a crowded Western Conference.