Durant has Thunder making some noise
Oklahoma City happy, healthy and quite content being in shadow of giants
If the Golden State Warriors are the, um, gold standard of the NBA and the Western Conference these days and the San Antonio Spurs are the “under-the-radar-right-where-they-like-it” group right behind them, wither the Oklahoma City Thunder? Forgotten, but not gone, it seems. Generally considered by many as a distant third in the West — and not as legitimate a championship contender today as the Cleveland Cavaliers coming out of the East — the Thunder are quietly going about their business while gathering steam and health to be ready for a long playoff run.
At 25-11 heading into Thursday games, the Thunder aren’t challenging the 33-2 Warriors or the unbeaten-at-home 31-6 Spurs but Oklahoma has won eight of its last 10 to be firmly ensconced in the upper echelons of the conference. And they are groovin’. “We always have fun, no matter what,” Kevin Durant said in a television interview after Oklahoma City’s latest victory.
“I think that’s what’s good about our group: We’re loose, but we’re still locked in at the same time. We’re happy for each other. We play around like that all the time, man, and to see guys go out and have fun, that’s what it’s all about.”
Durant has been chiefly responsible for the Thunder resurgence, hardly a surprise given his skill, stature in the league and importance to his team.
The perennial all-star missed a couple of weeks early in the season with a hamstring injury and even with Russell Westbrook doing his usual Westbrook things, the Thunder were basically up and down and treading water in the morass of the middle of the West.
Since Durant got back full-time in the last week of November, Oklahoma City has ripped off a 17-4 stretch, better than any team not called the Warriors or Spurs.
With him on the court — he missed a win over Sacramento with a toe issues — Oklahoma City is about 15 points per 100 possessions more effective with him on the court, laying waste to most opponents.
And it’s not like Durant’s presence has had a downing effect on Westbrook, as those who would promote the narrative that it’s on or the other might have people believe.
Durant is third in the league in scoring, averaging 26.6 points per game and behind only Stephen Curry and James Harden. Westbrook is fifth, averaging 25.2 points per game with only LeBron James between him and his teammate.
The dynamic Thunder duo plays tremendously well off each other and with each other and that has a lot to do with the team’s overall success.
It may not be the pretty, ball-movement style that’s so in vogue in the league these days but there is no disputing the effectiveness of Durant and Westbrook together.
It’s too early to spend a lot of time thinking about what will happen when the playoffs roll around — there are too many variables that could possibly come into play between now and then — but the Thunder have moved their way to near the front of the conversation right now.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Sixers’ saviour? No one knew for certain who was going to help the Philadelphia 76ers get some sort of legitimacy. Odds were that it would have been one of the many young studs they think they’ve drafted. But Ish Smith? No one had the journeyman guard as that guy but he’s doing something. Now, the Sixers are still truly dreadful but since acquiring Smith from the New Orleans Pelicans, the Sixers have gone 3-3 after an epically awful 1-30 start to the season. Sure, the wins have come against the equally inept Kings, Suns and Timberwolves but they were wins nonetheless.
On a binge: There’s warm, there’s hot, there’s scorching and then there’s Draymond Green. The ascendant Golden State Warriors forward is on a roll these days that’s seldom seen, going into games of Thursday he’s put up three consecutive triple-doubles and is playing better than basically any player in the league. On a team that features the sublime Stephen Curry, Green leads the Warriors in assists per game and passes more than anyone on the squad, leads the league in triple doubles and is the first NBAer other than Russell Westbrook to string together at least three straight triple-doubles since Michael Jordan in 1988.
Costly clerical error: Someone in Portland had to be into a spot of trouble Wednesday night. One of the pre-game routines all teams must do (the head coach or, more routinely someone he designates) has to fill out the official “active list” of players an hour before tip-off. But Wednesday in Portland, team officials somehow forgot to check off promising guard C.J. McCollum on the sheet of paper and he was ineligible for that night’s game, an eventual 109-98 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Keeping perspective: San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich has a way of making things clear, doesn’t he? He’s been in this space before when he mentioned that he hates the threepointer but knows he has to embrace it and use it, his feelings aside. So it came as little surprise this week when he put his own personal stamp on the use of advanced stats and metrics these days. “I look at the analytics,” he said. “Some of it is very worthwhile. Some of it is superfluous poppycock.” Makes entire sense, it’s plainly and clearly put and it’s right. A road not travelled: The Miami Heat, despite a surprising loss to the Knicks on Wednesday, have been pretty good at home so far this year, a performance that’s lifted them to the upper echelon of the East. A good thing, too, because things are going to get a bit more difficult in the next few weeks. After playing 22 of their first 34 games at home, they play14 of their next16 on the road and it’s going to be a telling grind. There’s a sixgame road trip and then back home for one game; a five-game journey before back home for one and then out for three more.
Coffee break time: Boris Diaw has got to be in the running for the Most Interesting Man in the NBA. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News reported this week that Diaw has had installed at his locker a fully functional espresso machine. Not sure if it’s to serve his teammates or just so he can relax and decompress. But a working espresso machine is an NBA locker-room first and enhances Diaw’s reputation as an intriguing man who happens to play basketball for a living. And how cool would it be to be around the Spurs every day?
Wheels coming off? The New Orleans Pelicans were supposed to be one of the up-and-coming Western Conference teams off their post-season appearance last spring and with Anthony Davis about to join the ranks of the truly elite. It’s gone sideways — the Pelicans suffered a rash of injuries and at 11-23 are falling out of post-season contention. New coach Alvin Gentry is publicly ripping his team’s effort, and that can’t be good. “It’s not fair to the fans. It’s not fair to anybody for us to come out and have that kind of effort. I’m really disappointed in the way we ap- proached the game. We tried time and time again to say it doesn’t matter who is playing and who is not playing,” he said after his team’s latest setback.