Thunder’s surge hits stormy patch
The Oklahoma City Thunder appeared to be on their way to their lofty preseason expectations during an eight-game win streak.
Then they hit another rough patch.
Oklahoma City dropped its fourth consecutive game Sunday when Brook Lopez scored 20 points and Julius Randle added 19, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 108104 victory, which ended an 11-game losing streak to the Thunder.
Thunder guard Russell Westbrook said the team won’t panic.
“Me personally, I love adversity,” Westbrook said. “It gives you an opportunity to bring your teammates together and bring everybody together. Looking forward to positive things. Throughout this season there is going to be a lot of ups and downs, but we never flinch. We are always going to stay together.”
Westbrook scored 36 points and Paul George had 26, but Oklahoma City struggled on defense again.
The Thunder has dropped four of five since losing defensive stopper Andre Roberson to a season-ending left patellar tendon injury. Of particular concern, the Lakers made 13 3-pointers.
“That’s where Andre Roberson is great, maybe the best I’ve ever seen, of being able to close down on top of shooters and get them to bounce it and then also guard it,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “But we’ve got to be able to do a better job.”
Hornets
Charlotte point guard Kemba Walker set a franchise record for 3-pointers made with 930 in his career, topping Dell Curry, who is still with the franchise as a television analyst. Walker broke Curry’s record in 493 games. Curry, an original Hornet chosen in the expansion draft in 1988, played 701 games for the Hornets. That difference clearly illustrates how much bigger a part of the NBA game the 3-pointer is now.
Mavericks
Dirk Nowitzki inched closer to another NBA milestone late Saturday and his teammates also took a collective step forward in what has been a disappointing season. Yogi Ferrell made consecutive 3-pointers to spark a big run at the start of the fourth quarter and the Mavericks beat the Sacramento Kings, 106-99, to snap a five-game losing streak. Nowitzki had 15 points and 7 rebounds and played 26 minutes and now needs six more minutes to become sixth player in NBA history to reach 50,000 for his career, joining a list that includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd and Elvin Hayes.