This team entered the playoffs as the second seed and will play the defending champions Dallas Mavericks. The Oklahoma City Thunder only fell behind the San Antonio Spurs in the regular season with a 47-19 record, only three games behind the Spurs. However, this was still good news because they will have home court advantage in the first round against the Mavericks. Buy your Thunder tickets today and help support the team to victory!

Dallas Vs Oklahoma

It was fairly obvious that Dallas’ goals were to sacrifice this year and simply rebuild by the time 2013 comes around. However, this series will definitely not be easy for them as Dirk Nowitzki and company will not back down. Jason Kidd is a veteran leader that knows how to win and so they will have their hands full. It was very impressive that Dallas was able to still make it into the playoffs but they are currently losing 1-0 as Kevin Durant made a game winner in Game 1. However, this series is not yet over but most analysts believe the Thunder will win within 5 games.

Keys To Winning The Playoffs

Russell Westbrook

If this team wants to get out of the West alive, they will need to make sure that Russell Westbrook learns from his 2011 meltdown. Westbrook has proved to have improved over the course of the season and continues to be an elite point guard in the NBA. This is good news for those fans that have already purchased their Thunder tickets. I know I would be pissed if I went to a game and saw Westbrook completely meltdown.

Injuries And Health

For this team to succeed, James Harden needs to be healthy. Harden is the favorite to win the 6th man award and definitely deserves a lot of credit for the teams success in the league this year. He will need to recover from his mild concussion that he got from Metta World Peace.

Get Fueled From The First Round

This is Oklahoma’s chance to get revenge after the Mavericks’ knocked them out in 2011. They need to get fueled and to ride the first round with a lot of energy to be able to get into the second round.

Dominate Kobe Bryant

The Thunder will most likely face the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round as they will more than likely knock the Denver Nuggets out. This will be a highly anticipated match up, so buy your Thunder tickets today! Kevin Durant and company will need to work together to stop the best player in the league and get out of the second round and into the Western Conference Finals where they will face the #1 seed Spurs.

Outrun The “Old and Young”

The Spurs will most likely be the team to beat in the West and will be the Thunder’s biggest challenge. If they are able to get through the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, they will then need to get through the younger batch of James, Wade and Bosh. The Heat will be their final match up and would make for an extremely entertaining Finals.

The Thunder’s bid for the Championship is certainly not impossible and head coach Scott Brooks will be better off just letting his talented group of players take over and win the games for Oklahoma. The team has been preparing all season for the playoffs and they definitely look more than ready to take it all the way.