Nets at Thunder
The undermanned Oklahoma City Thunder are still putting up a fight but are falling short during a four-game losing streak that has dropped them to the bottom of the Western Conference. The Thunder will try to pull out of the funk when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Nets are coming off a triple-overtime loss to former head coach Jason Kidd and the Milwaukee Bucks and have lost five in a row overall.
Oklahoma City still doesn’t know when it will get superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook back in the lineup while Perry Jones continues to battle a knee injury. The Thunder only had nine players available on Nov. 3 at Brooklyn, when they Nets cruised to a 116-85 victory behind Deron Williams’ 17 points and nine assists. Williams is averaging 16.6 points and six assists over the last five games but inconsistent performances from the likes of Joe Johnson and Brook Lopez have kept Brooklyn out of the win column.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FSN Oklahoma
ABOUT THE NETS (4-7): Lopez has found his way into Brooklyn coach Lionel Hollins’ doghouse several times already this season due to his failings on the defensive end but was on the court down the stretch against the Bucks. “I was a little tired, I can’t lie, but it was great being out there,” Lopez, who scored 26 points in the loss, told reporters. “I think I just finished better. I got good looks. Guys hit me where I could score easily. Pretty simple.” Lopez dropped all the way down to five points in 22 minutes in a loss to the Miami Heat on Monday but played 44 minutes on Wednesday.
ABOUT THE THUNDER (3-10): Oklahoma City is missing the scoring punch provided by Westbrook and Durant, and a slump from forward Serge Ibaka kept the team under 90 points in three straight games. Ibaka, who went 15-of-46 from the field in those three losses, picked it up with 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting on Wednesday but could not quite pull his team over the hump in a 107-100 loss at Denver. “(Ibaka’s) energy level was much better,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told reporters. “He has to bring that every night.”
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Thunder G Sebastian Telfair went 7-of-7 from the field on Wednesday after going 7-of-29 in the previous five games.
2. Nets G Bojan Bogdanovic is 8-of-16 from 3-point range in the last two games.
3. Brooklyn won in its last two trips to Oklahoma City and has taken three of the last four in the series.