West contenders face big questions in sprint to playoffs: Which teams have fatal flaws?

There is a beauty in the basketball we see after the All-Star break. The fun is in the sprint toward the playoffs when we can see and feel the urgency from teams, identity against identity, working to sprinkle in more game plans. There is a separation from how good you are as a team and a pivot into how much can you sustain that good. Teams are working to put each other in a box and they have to problem solve their way out of it.

How much do you believe in what you do? How many different ways can you get back to it? 

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With that in mind, I’ve been sitting and thinking about the Western Conference, where the Oklahoma City Thunder have fallen off their early historic pace and now have company at the top of the conference.

OKC and San Antonio: Battle for West’s top seed

Injuries have defined this stretch for OKC, but the team has found a way to stay on the right course. We all have someone in our lives who looks out their window on the weekend, takes a deep breath and admires their work. That’s the feel I’ve gotten from Mark Daigneault during this stretch.

OKC’s focus on next man up, executing on offense and harassing teams defensively has held steady no matter who has been on the court. Casually adding Jared McCain’s playmaking and shooting has helped, but the Thunder have been able to play through Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein to balance things on both ends of the floor with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams sidelined. Meanwhile, the lights may be brighter on Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe and a host of others, but they have kept the ball (and effort) moving.

The tricky part for the Thunder is that team in San Antonio refuses to go away. It’s one thing for the Spurs to have beaten the Thunder four out of five times this season, it’s another for the Spurs to have not lost a game in the month of February (nine straight wins), meaning they are now only three games behind the Thunder for the top spot in the West.

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It’s easy to point to the play of Victor Wembanayama on both ends of the floor, but when you see the Spurs you see a team that is playing with more poise,…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/west-contenders-face-big-questions-in-sprint-to-playoffs-which-teams-have-fatal-flaws-200142190.html

Author : Steve Jones

Publish date : 2026-02-25 20:01:00

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