NBA Insider: There's room in the Western Conference penthouse

That rugged road to the Western Conference playoffs has become a little smoother and given hope to all of its young, aspiring teams such as Sacramento, New Orleans, Utah and maybe, just perhaps, the Timberwolves.

Last season, Dallas secured the eighth and final playoff spot by winning 49 regular-season games. But season-starting injuries to not one but two Oklahoma City superstars just might change everything, or at least lower the threshold enough to provide some light in the distance for the young and restless.

NBA leading scorer and reigning league MVP Kevin Durant fractured his foot early in preseason play and likely is out until mid-December or beyond. Then fellow All-Star Russell Westbrook broke his hand, an injury that is expected to keep him out until sometime in December as well.

And just like that, a Thunder team that could have been counted on to win home-court advantage in the playoffs — if not the Western Conference outright — is off to a 1-5 start.

The Thunder is there because it is dependent upon Reggie Jackson, Serge Ibaka and Perry Jones for its scoring while counting the weeks until its two stars return, just like the Wolves now wait for Ricky Rubio's return from a significantly sprained ankle.

That's the Thunder's worst start since it began the 2008-09 season — Westbrook's rookie year — with a 1-15 record.

"It's like my first year here [2011-12]," Rubio said before he was injured in Friday's loss at Orlando. "We were above .500, suddenly I got hurt, then Kevin Love got hurt and it's tough to see the team from the bench. So I feel for those guys."

By the time Durant and Westbrook both return, it could be too late, particularly if either player's return is delayed.

"Listen, they're going to have to find a way to 44, 45, 46 games and see where everyone else comes out," Wolves coach and basketball boss Flip Saunders said. "The thing that's happening in the West is all the bottom feeders have gotten better. It might not show in wins, but they've gotten more competitive, whether it's Sacramento, Utah, New Orleans, everybody. It's a tough hole for them.

"It might lower the number of wins it takes for teams to get into the playoffs. Instead of 48, 49 wins, you might need only 45 or 46, but that last week there's probably going to be five teams fighting to get that spot instead of one or two."

If Durant and Westbrook don't get to full speed by, say Christmas, the season will be more than a third gone. Even if the Thunder starts 10-19, those two players both must remain healthy and Oklahoma City must go 34-19 the rest of the way to reach 44 victories.

And if the Thunder — winners of 59 games a season ago — should start 6-23, well …

"They're losing some games now on the road," Saunders said. "But the schedule is going to even itself out. I do believe their home crowd is going to help them scratch out some wins and hang around."

If the Thunder can do so, players such as Jackson, Jones, Jeremy Lamb and Steven Lamb presumably will the better for it, having benefited from increased playing time and bigger assumed roles.

"They're a class-act group," said guard Kevin Martin, who won 60 games with Oklahoma City two seasons ago before he signed with the Wolves in July 2013. "This is just going to make them stronger when those two guys get back."

NBA short takes

The Timberwolves head back to Mexico City this week, 11 months after they went all that way for a game against San Antonio that never was played because of an arena fire 90 minutes before the opening tip.

This time, they're the home team once again, against a Houston Rockets team that started the season 6-0 because both James Harden and Dwight Howard are playing like superstars. It'll be the first time old college teammates and longtime work colleagues Flip Saunders and Kevin McHale will coach against each other.

New Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins usually is nothing if not a voice of reason. He's a curmudgeonly one, but a voice of reason.

Here's what he had to say when asked about Wolves rookie forward and No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins: "Certainly, he has the athleticism and quickness to possibly be, but it's not just about athleticism and quickness in this league. It's about skill and it's about having a strong will. The great ones have been tough and have the will to get it done."

Whether Brooklyn star Kevin Garnett this season is playing his final two games ever against a Timberwolves franchise that drafted him long ago remains to be seen, but Wolves coach Flip Saunders knows one thing: Don't expect K.G. to ever coach once he retires.

He certainly could become part owner — the Wolves, anyone? But a coach? Saunders doesn't think so.

"His personality, his DNA, he'd get too frustrated, I think,'' Saunders said. ''

Wolves' week ahead

Wednesday: 9 p.m. vs. Houston in Mexico City (ESPN)

Friday: 7 p.m. at New Orleans (FSN)

Saturday: 7:30 p.m. at Dallas (FSN)

Anthony Davis, New Orleans

The NBA's next great player after LeBron James and Kevin Durant, he already is the league leader in blocked shots who had nine of 'em on opening night. With shot-blocking Omer Asik now next to him, this former No. 1 overall pick and third-year player is about to become a terror every which way.

Wolves coach Flip Saunders when asked if leaving 19-year-old rookie Andrew Wiggins out on an island to defend Brooklyn's Joe Johnson is a learning experience for the young fella.