Preview: OKC Thunder hope to bounce back against Orlando
Following a tough loss to the reigning NBA champs, the OKC Thunder have an opportunity to bounce back at home against the Orlando Magic.
Coming out of the All-Star break, Oklahoma City barely escaped an ugly loss to Sacramento with a Russell Westbrook buzzer beater. Against the Golden State Warriors on Friday, they kept it close through the first half, but the starters could not get shots to fall and they wound up losing by a large margin.
The OKC Thunder still hold the season series edge over the Dubs 2-1. The Warriors beat their opponent most of the time, so OKC cannot get hung up on the loss. Also, they should just be thankful to have escaped unscathed, despite Zaza Pachulia’s best efforts.
Even other superstars were not impressed with the ongoing thug-like behavior of Zaza (note: the following contains language which may offend).
Kyrie Irving has thoughts on Pachulia falling on Westbrook’s leg: “that s*** is ridiculous” pic.twitter.com/fPJayhbzT4
— Fred Katz (@FredKatz) February 25, 2018
Enough Warriors, it’s Magic time
The Thunder have a chance to get back on track against the Orlando Magic, who are losers of their last five contests. Three of those were prior to the All-Star break, in which they were playing without emerging star, Aaron Gordon as well as post-presence, Nikola Vucevic.
Tanking could very well be on the mind of the Magic front-office, but they are healthy again and could string together some games at some point. Check out some keys for the OKC Thunder if they hope to prevent a magical run.