Five reasons why Thunder fans should NOT start panicking

5. Victor Oladipo is absent from all of this

I will admit, it is worrisome that Victor Oladipo has been sidelined with back spasms for ten days.

At the same time back spasms are an injury with no concrete timetable to return. It is very possible that Oladipo has the severe kind, an injury that can take up to six weeks to fully heal. But there is a positive spin to all this.

Remember what happened when Oladipo went out with a wrist injury?

Related Story: How the Victor Oladipo injury oddly helped the Thunder

Oklahoma City struggled at first, getting blown out by the Trail Blazers and Jazz. But then the team started playing off each other more; Russell Westbrook was getting helping from unexpected places. Alex Abrines and Domantas Sabonis both set career-highs in those nine games, Westbrook had games with 15 and 22 assists and OKC even had a four-game win streak.

Missing Oladipo did not affect their record (they went 5-4 in that span) but it forced Westbrook to work even harder on both ends of the court. His teammates stepped up during Oladipo’s wrist injury, but that hasn’t played out during the past two games.

I expect that to change tonight. Billy Donovan is no slouch; unlike Scott Brooks he makes adjustments from game-to-game. It’s nearly impossible to do that on a back-to-back, but Donovan had all Saturday to watch film and prepare for the Mavericks.

The Thunder miss Oladipo, but this is an opportunity for other players to step up and find their place in the Thunder offense. That way when he finally returns, OKC will have more scoring options than they first thought.