NBA Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City Thunder Will Be Rejuvenated By NBA All-Star Break

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By @GoldenPerspectv

Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder

Jerome Miron – USA Today Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in unfamiliar territory as they attempt to claw themselves into championship contention. But to do that, they first must glue together a series of wins that would shove them above the Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans into the No. 8 spot in the Western Conference. The reoccurring obstacle that seems to clog their chances of that goal is the maintenance of their players.

Injuries to their one-two punch has single-handedly pended an accurate synopsis of their team. It wouldn’t be anywhere near precise to look at their 24-24 start and align their future parallel to the Milwaukee Bucks (26-22). You have to take into consideration that the Thunder made it to the Western Conference Finals last year.

That’s no easy feat, especially in a rigorous conference such as the West. Another key component to be analyzed is that a team such as the Bucks has faced opponents in the Eastern Conference 31 times thus far. The Thunder have only played 20 Eastern Conference games in which they’ve won more than 50 percent of the time.

But one can infer that Kevin Durant is an ultimate necessity to the second-half of the Thunder’s season. Durant not being able to play due to injury is also a harbinger that suggests Oklahoma City will miss their first postseason since 2009. Russell Westbrook has been playing at a stellar level but that’s the extent of it. Serge Ibaka has tallied a double-double in five of his last six games but has been shooting terribly. He’s shooting 38 percent from the field and 28 percent from deep in the previous seven games.

The remaining teammates aren’t any better either. Dion Waiters had a couple 20-plus performances, but there has yet to be anyone to lead the Thunder in scoring whose last name isn’t Westbrook or Durant in the new year. I don’t completely blame the role players, though.

Sure a lot of those guys aren’t as skilled as they’d like to be, but the Thunder aren’t necessarily an ideal team in terms of sharing the basketball either. They are heavily dependent on isolations. I’m not knocking them for their style of play, because it has worked for them in the past; but it hasn’t won them a championship, and it certainly won’t benefit anyone but Westbrook in KD’s absence.

During the upcoming All-Star break, Durant will have an additional week to recover from a toe injury. I expect Durant to come back with vengeance as he did when he returned from a sprained right ankle against the Suns. Durant scored 44 points, grabbed 10 boards and added seven assists to his stat-line in an epic win over the Suns. He understands that there is little time to waste.

The Thunder’s first meeting after All-Star weekend will be against the Dallas Mavericks. This game will be extremely pivotal for OKC. There’s a chance that the Mavericks will be without starting point guard Rajon Rondo during that game, but that isn’t inevitably a bad thing. Maybe in the long run it will damage the Mavs but not in their next few games/weeks without him. Dallas had actually played better before trading for Rondo. Their matchup with the Thunder will be very intriguing to watch to say the least. If OKC can skate away with a win, they will be in great shape as they face the Charlotte Hornets, Denver Nuggets and Indiana Pacers in their next games.

The Thunder are just looking for some consistency at this point. A consistent starting lineup results in a consistent rotation. A consistent rotation will improve their odds of earning consistent wins. And those consistent wins will propel them into the playoffs as they’ve consistently been present for in the past several years. But first thing’s first; they have to close this next week of games strong. And it all starts with a pair of games against the current team one seed ahead of them: The Pelicans.

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