Views from OKC: Thunder go for first win of 2017
By Tony Heim
Welcome to Views from OKC, Thunderous Intentions’ daily roundup of the best OKC Thunder stories across the web.
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Can the Thunder change their misfortunes tonight?
“Throughout a fruitless road endeavor, Oklahoma City remained in the thick of competitive battle. Unfortunately, amid this stretch Westbrook’s usually stalwart fourth-quarter efforts suffered a precipitous downturn. Overall, Westbrook shot a meager 8-27 FGA in his past three fourth quarter offerings. As a result, along the way OKC thrice suffered defeat by a slim 5-point average.”
This game is going to be a tough one for the Thunder. For one, they are coming off a three-game road losing streak, where every game was semi-close. Secondly, Russell Westbrook has not been on his game. During the recent skid, Russ hasn’t recorded more than eight assists; they need him to involve everyone else on the offensive end if they want to win tonight.
Looking at a potential Paul Millsap trade
“As currently constructed, the Oklahoma City Thunder are basically just the Russell Westbrook Show. As entertaining as it is, this team is not built for a playoff run past the second round. Putting Paul Millsap alongside Steven Adams in the frontcourt could very quickly change that.”
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I don’t know what to make of this trade. On one hand I reallyyyyyyyyyyyy like Millsap on this team. He’s essentially a more athletic version of what they want Domantas Sabonis to turn into, so he’d fit perfect in the starting lineup. But I’m also not sure this would make the Thunder a title contender. With Millsap vying for a huge contract this summer it makes the risk of losing both Cameron Payne and Enes Kanter disconcerting.
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The MVP will come down to Westbrook and Harden
“Look, this isn’t to say that Russ isn’t a team player or made the wrong decision. In fact, Westbrook was sublime Thursday night, pouring in 49 points thanks in large part to a career-high eight three-pointers. He carried the team for long stretches, and earned himself the opportunity to win the game for OKC at the end. Instead, Harden’s unselfish play highlights the biggest difference between the two MVP front runners: Their supporting casts.”
The last two words is exactly why I think the Westbrook is the MVP this season. Harden has former 20-point scorers in Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, PLUS respected veterans like Nene, Patrick Beverley and Corey Brewer. Maybe not all are respected, but they’ve carved niches in the league. On the other hand, Russ is stuck playing with a bunch of young players trying to find themselves in this league. Darn right he deserves it.