Thunder's Crunch Time Lineup Makes Them Biggest First-Round Upset Threat in the West

The Oklahoma City Thunder have pieced together a modest campaign this season. Even after shipping out superstar Russell Westbrook, they're 34-22 and the sixth seed in the Western Conference.

Perhaps the greatest contributing factor to their success, though, is how they've been closing out games. The lineup that head coach Billy Donovan trots out when it matters most features three stellar players in Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dennis Schroder.

And it's that lineup that makes them a great candidate to upset their opponent in the first round of the playoffs.

In games separated by five points or fewer in the final five minutes, Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander and Schroder rank fifth, third and second, respectively, in plus-minus per game for players with a minimum of 25 games.

Oh, and by the way, the guy in the top spot is Steven Adams.

Simply put, this team knows how to turn on the jets when it matters most.

In terms of total plus-minus, the top five spots are all occupied by members of the Thunder, with Danilo Gallinari joining the aforementioned four clutch time heroes.

This team doesn't need to blow out their opponents to get a win. All they have to do is stay within striking distance until the last few minutes of the game.

After that, all bets are off.