It’s not just the defense of the Thunder which has OKC ranking this high on the list (and trust me they’ll move UP again next week). Rather, there are other discernible factors which place them in the upper tier. Albeit they stumbled a bit in week nine barely splitting the week’s contests. This has some pundits a bit worried given their early strength of schedule.
However, if you had to bet on one player finding a way to shake off a cold spell wouldn’t it be Russell Westbrook? Consider this — Russell is doing something he hasn’t done — well for pretty much the majority of his career. Aside from letting James Harden be the primary ball distributor and the occasional time spent on the court in concert with Reggie Jackson, Westbrook has been ‘the’ playmaker. Moreover, other than hooking up his big men (Serge Ibaka and now Steven Adams) and doing the ‘your turn – my turn’ scheme with Durant this system is foreign to him.
My point is we are witnessing Westbrook commit to playing defense, playing off ball and trusting others to take the key shots. The combination of those factors makes this a big adjustment season for him. You constantly hear of players whose playing time gets decreased and how it messes up their rhythm and timing. I think that and the lingering effects of his knee procedure and ankle injury are the greater factors in this cold stretch.
In other words — give him time. Once he regains his shot and marries it within this new way of life it will only serve to make the Thunder offense stronger. And, that with this defense should have their opponents (particularly in the West) nervous!
OKC Thunder:
Offensive Rating: 20th
Defensive Rating: 1st
Net Differential: 5th
Points per game: 111.1 (13th)
Offensive field goal efficiency: 45.4 percent (18th)
Opponent points per game: 105.3 (5th)
Opponent field goal efficiency: 45.1 percent (11th)
3-point efficiency: 32.1% percent (30th)
Opponent 3-point efficiency: 33.0% percent (5th)
Home: 11-3
Road: 7-7
Back to back sets: 4
Versus the West: 9-8, 3rd in WC
Versus the East: 9-2
Week nine 2-2: Wins Jazz, Clippers, lost @Pelicans, B2B – @Nuggets,
On tap for week 10: Bulls, @Kings, (B2B: @Jazz, Timberwolves)