Oklahoma City Thunder look to snap road losing streak in Brooklyn
Can the Oklahoma City Thunder snap their seven-game road losing streak? The Thunder face the Nets in Brooklyn Tuesday night so they better.
The Oklahoma City Thunder hit the road on Tuesday night for a big game against the Brooklyn Nets. Why is a game about the Nets a big game? Because Oklahoma City needs every win they can get as they look to improve their standing in the playoffs, and they haven’t won on the road since January 25th.
It’s the Nets. Please win.
This may seem like an easy victory. The Thunder are coming off two straight victories over the Jazz and the Spurs while the Nets have a whopping 12 wins all year. But, we’re talking about Oklahoma City here. This team consistently finds new ways to disappoint us. Remember, they just lost to the lowly Phoenix Suns. And the Nets did win a game at Memphis a week ago.
The Nets weren’t good last year, but guess who they beat at home when they visited? The Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder were on a seven-game win streak, but they rolled into Brooklyn and lost. The team and fans blamed snowy conditions for a late arrival into the city, lack of rest and a poor practice. Guess what, the conditions are similar this year. There is a blizzard warning in effect in Brooklyn and it’s supposed to snow throughout Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
The good news is that the team is already in Brooklyn, so there will be no late arrival. The bad news is that if the snow shuts things down, it could mean no practice time. While Nets players enjoy the comfort of home, Thunder players are stuck in a hotel.
This shouldn’t matter. It’s the Nets. A team with Russell Westbrook playing at his current level shouldn’t lose to the Nets. All the team has to do is show up with enough defensive intensity and pressure, something that has lacked in recent road games. If that happens OKC should go up by 20 early in the third and then watch as the Nets pack it in.
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Usually I’d be worried if the Thunder go up by double digits in the third because the other team typically crawls back in as OKC fails to close the show. Again, we’re talking about the Nets.
Westbrook triple-double
The easiest way to ensure victory is for Westbrook to record another triple-double. That shouldn’t be too difficult. Did I mention that they’re playing the Nets? They give up 114 points per game, good for dead last in the league. Westbrook should be able to get anything he wants and set up his teammates for anything they want throughout the entire game.
Key areas where the Oklahoma City Thunder should thrive is on the offensive glass and in the fast break. Brooklyn allows opponents to score 14.4 fast break points per game and gives up 14.6 second chance points per game. That’s nearly 30 points for the taking if OKC plays with the proper level of effort.
Steven Adams and Enes Kanter should feast on the offensive glass. Meanwhile, a Westbrook rebound could easily turn into an easy bucket for Victor Oladipo or Andre Roberson assuming they run the floor.
Westbrook should come out with a record triple-double in 15-minutes of playing time. Doing so will force the league to stop the game in order to save the Nets from being the victims of a 40-20-20 game. The Nets have had a rough season, it’s the least the league could do.
Rotations
Regular season Billy Donovan is a weird guy. After Doug McDermott scored 11 points on 5-10 shooting against the Spurs, he played just five minutes against Utah. Donovan said that the Jazz duo of Dante Exum and Alec Burks kept McDermott on the bench. It sounds fine in theory, but doesn’t add up when you know Donovan’s history of wacky rotations.
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I’m not questioning his tactics. Not after last season. It’s just always surprising to see a guy get 20+ minutes, play well and then barely play in the next game.
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This is all to say that I expect Billy to be experimental against Brooklyn. If Taj Gibson isn’t able to play, Domantas Sabonis will likely slide back into the starting role. It also means increased minutes for Jerami Grant, who has only played 8.3 minutes per game in the last three contests.
Assuming the Oklahoma City Thunder take care of business – which isn’t a safe assumption – it should give Donovan time to do some different things in the fourth. Maybe Norris Cole gets minutes to find himself. How about a lineup with Semaj-Cole-Singler-Grant-Collison?
What’s the point of that lineup? I don’t know. But, it’s the Nets. If you’re not able to play that lineup in the final three minutes of the game, something went horribly wrong in the first 45.
The game tips off at 7:30 PM ET. Rumor has it that the snow could cause the game to be canceled. If that’s the case, I just wrote 800 words on a Nets game for no reason and I’m not happy about it.