Thunderous Intentions
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OKC Thunder: Five Takeaways from Third Straight Home Loss

By Tony Heim

Nov 13, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo (5) drives to the basket in front of Orlando Magic forward Serge Ibaka (7) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Victor Oladipo (5) drives to the basket in front of Orlando Magic forward Serge Ibaka (7) during the fourth quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /
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1. OKC is not guaranteed to make the playoffs

Of course I’m not overreacting to the point that I think these guys won’t make the playoffs. But there are legitimate concerns now.

Nov 13, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter (11) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) react after a play against the Orlando Magic during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 13, 2016; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Enes Kanter (11) and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) react after a play against the Orlando Magic during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports /

If I knew one thing about this team going into tonight it was that they wouldn’t take games off. With Russ, there was no chance that anybody could get away with giving less than 110%. Well I was wrong.

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The first quarter was an indicator that this team wasn’t worried about this game. There was no offensive movement, the defense wasn’t communicating; even the crowd wasn’t into it. Remember, this is the fifth youngest team in the league so these games are going to happen from time to time.

And that’s going to be the problem this season. This team is still learning to play with each other so there will be more of these weird losses. How they bounce back is going to be key on whether or not they make the playoffs. In this league, all 30 teams have a chance to win every night; every time the Thunder take a game off is going to be a loss.

OKC isn’t talented enough to win 50 games. They are going to have to play legitimate team basketball if they want to break that barrier. Hopefully tonight was their wake-up call.

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