{"id":5341,"date":"2018-03-31T16:44:26","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T21:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5341"},"modified":"2018-08-20T14:07:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T19:07:38","slug":"thunder-working-on-entering-the-playoffs-on-a-downward-trend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5341","title":{"rendered":"Thunder working on entering the playoffs on a downward trend&#8230;&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Oklahoma City lost again last night in NBA action, falling to the Denver Nuggets 126-125 in overtime. The Thunder have lost their last\u00a0three games and will resume action Sunday afternoon in New Orleans against the Pelicans.<\/strong><\/span><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">With the loss, OKC is flirting with a much lower seed in the\u00a0 2018 playoffs and it is still not a certainty that the Thunder are going to be in said playoffs.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">With five games remaining, three on the road, OKC could in fact lose at New Orleans Sunday night, lose to the Warriors of Golden State at home, fall at Houston and Miami before the final regular season game in the Peak against Memphis.\u00a0 It is not that much out of the question that OKC drops four of the five games and finish in 7th or 8th place, assuring a match-up with Houston or Golden State in round one.\u00a0 A 6th place finish would have them against Portland, who has beaten the Thunder four out of four times this year.\u00a0 It is also a possibility that if OKC loses these games, they would finish out of the playoff picture.\u00a0 Think it could not happen? That is dangerous thought.<\/span><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h5><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">The next week will be interesting as the franchise in OKC is coming to a crossroads in their tenth season on the South Plaines.\u00a0 The big picture is at stake, and we all know what that means. Paul George, what are your thoughts?<\/span><\/h5>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Feature photo:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"photo-credit\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Sue Ogrocki, The Associated Press<\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font: 400 16px\/16px 'Source Sans Pro', Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: left; color: #000000; text-transform: none; text-indent: 0px; letter-spacing: normal; text-decoration: none; word-spacing: 0px; float: none; display: inline !important; white-space: normal; orphans: 2; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; background-color: transparent; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"> Denver Nuggets forward Paul Millsap (4) high fives teammate Devin Harris, left, after Denver defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 126-125 in overtime of an NBA basketball game in Oklahoma City, Friday, March 30, 2018.<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_5341\" 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