For a while, it seemed like the Oklahoma City Thunder might have to get head coach Scott Brooks a uniform. The injuries had mounted so high that the Thunder were unable to even dress 10 players, and their season was headed towards disaster. Since then, however, the stars have returned, the team has gotten healthy, and they are firing on all cylinders.
The injury woes were a new challenge for this Oklahoma City squad. Before the season, Kevin Durant suffered a stress fracture in his foot, and was sidelined for the first six weeks. Injuries to Jeremy Lamb, Anthony Morrow, Russell Westbrook, and several others followed, and the team spiraled to a 3-12 start. Then, however, the team started to come back, one by one. Westbrook returned from a fractured hand and has resumed playing like an all-star. Lamb stepped in and provided a secondary scoring option. Morrow provided three-point shooting and depth, and Serge Ibaka held his own throughout the injury-plagued start to keep the team in games they had no business being in.
The final addition – the straw that stirs the drink – was the return of the reigning MVP, Kevin Durant. After a shaky first game in which the Thunder lost to the New Orleans Pelicans, OKC has rattled off seven straight victories. Once again, they appear to be one of the top teams in the western conference, even at 12-13 and in 10th place of the ultra-deep west. They are only ½ game out of the eighth seed, and the playoffs – once a pipe dream – are now well within their reach. Now healthy once again, this team is a force to be reckoned with and should be considered to be one of the favorites.
Unlike previous seasons, this year Oklahoma City is anchored by the league’s best scoring defense. At only 93.9 points allowed per game, the Thunder have added another element that the best teams traditionally have. Ibaka has been a beast patrolling the interior alongside the much-improved Steven Adams, and even without Thabo Sefolosha, Lamb, Perry Jones III, and Andre Roberson have all played excellent defense. Kendrick Perkins has accepted a role on the bench, and the result is a battle tested squad that will play solid defense for 48 minutes. Teams are only shooting 41.8% against them from the field, and they are holding opponents to a 28.9% clip from beyond the arc. What this means for OKC is that even when they are not scoring, an issue before Westbrook and Durant returned, they can still hang around in games.
In addition to playing excellent defense, the Thunder have upgraded their starting five tremendously since last season. By demoting Perkins and losing Sefolosha to the Atlanta Hawks, OKC rid its starting five of two of their worst offensive players. Their replacements, Adams and Roberson, have been significantly more adept and have provided upgrades at both positions. The group of Westbrook, Durant, Roberson, Adams, and Ibaka are outscoring opponents by 34.5 points per 100 possessions, good for the best mark in the league. They also now bolster a bench that is capable of scoring as well, with Jones, Lamb, Nick Collison, and Reggie Jackson leading the way. Jackson filled in admirably for Westbrook, and is averaging 16 points per game.
Now that they are healthy, Oklahoma City is a team on a mission. A mission to prove that they are NBA Finals ready, a mission to prove that they will not be derailed by what seemed like impossible odds. Head coach Scott Brooks deserves a ton of credit for keeping this team together, when it once seemed like everything was falling apart. They certainly still have their work cut out for them, having to climb over the best teams in the NBA to get to the top, but if we’ve learned anything this season, it’s not to count out the Oklahoma City Thunder.