OKC is better against the bad teams played
It took the Thunder 22 games last season to win 10.
On Saturday, the Thunder has a chance to win its 10th game of the season in Game No. 15. Some of the Thunder’s success this season has been due to a soft schedule. The Thunder has four of its nine wins against teams which are currently seven games or more under .500 (Cleveland, Atlanta, Phoenix twice). On Saturday, the Thunder will go for its third win against Phoenix this season.
What the Thunder has shown is improvement against sub-.500 teams from last season to now.
After beating the Knicks on Wednesday, Thunder coach Billy Donovan didn’t come out and say his team took lesser teams for granted last season, but admitted the players and staff had conversations over the offseason about those types of games. Last season, the Thunder lost 11 games to teams which finished below .500, tied with Minnesota for the most among Western Conference playoff teams.
“Regardless of what your talent level is, if you’re not prepared to run around, to chase, to do the thing necessary against teams like that, teams can make a lot of threes,” Donovan said. “If you go back and you look at the games we lost against the teams you’re talking about last year, I think teams shot a little better than 40 percent from the 3-point line against us. That’s a recipe for a loss.
“If you get bored or if you’re not prepared to put forth the effort that’s required in 100 possessions, when a team shoots 40 percent from the 3-point line, I guarantee you the game’s coming down to the stretch, coming down to the final minute or two.”
Westbrook practices, Abrines out
Ahead of the Thunder’s three-game road trip, Russell Westbrook was back in practice.
Westbrook, who’s missed the Thunder’s last five games with a left ankle sprain, participated in practice Friday, according to Donovan. The Thunder had a light contact day before leaving in the afternoon for Phoenix, the first stop on a West Coast road trip that includes Sacramento (Monday) and Golden State (Wednesday).
Before spraining his ankle against the Pelicans on Nov. 5, Westbrook was averaging 24.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.9 assists on 48.9 percent shooting. The Thunder is 5-2 with Westbrook this season, but in his absence, the Thunder has gone 4-3, including four wins in its last five games.
Alex Abrines, who is battling what Donovan called “flu-like symptoms,” did not practice on Friday, but will make the road trip. Abrines had to leave Wednesday’s win against the Knicks.