Thunder on Brink of Bringing Playoffs to OK City

Growing up in Oklahoma City, Mick Cornett was accustomed to living in a place where a major pro sports team wasn't part of the landscape and wasn't thought to be a possibility.

Still, he held out hope. He was optimistic that someday the city could move into the major leagues, and did what he could to help. When Oklahoma City made a move to get an NHL franchise, he signed up for tickets to games that never actually happened.

Led by Kevin Durant's MVP-caliber season, the Oklahoma City Thunder (46-28) are on the brink of making the playoffs and could clinch a berth as early as Friday, if Memphis were to lose to New Orleans. It would cap a remarkable turnaround for a franchise that won only three of its first 30 games after relocating from Seattle and finished last season 23-59.

''To me, that's an incredible bonus that I didn't see coming,'' Cornett said. ''Before the year started, I thought 30-35 wins was about all realistically anyone should expect.'' Durant has continued to develop since being named the NBA's Rookie of the Year in 2008, and now finds himself right behind LeBron James in the NBA scoring race. More importantly, the Thunder have dramatically improved on the defensive end after being one of the league's least stingy teams a season ago.

The postseason started to become a real possibility after a nine-game winning streak that lasted from late January until late February, and Oklahoma City has sustained its success long-term while doubling its win total from last season. ''I never put expectations on them. I focused on getting better,'' coach Scott Brooks said. ''Over the summer, we focused on getting better defensively and that has happened. ... I like what we've done during the year.''

The end result has been a practically new team that Oklahoma City can call its own. The Thunder have sold out 24 of their 37 home games and rank 11th in the league with average attendance of 17,972 -- or 98.7 percent capacity at the Ford Center, where about 1,000 seats were removed as part of an upgrade last offseason that added luxury suites.

The Thunder's exploits mark the latest development in Oklahoma City's rise as an NBA city.