OKC Thunder return to identity – 3 takeaways from important win vs. Blazers

Brodie swag is back- big time!

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I mentioned this is in the postgame grades but it’s worth repeating. If you’ve watched Russell Westbrook play in as many games as I have you’re keenly familiar with certain hints to his state of mind. Sure, we all know he’ll bring the aggression game in, game out. But, there is something else going on in the past three games.

Thunder Nation might even want to thank Joel Embiid for waking up the sleeping swag dog in the Brodie. In each of the past three games I’ve noticed Westbrook is walking with a different swag in his step and it’s accompanied with that killer instinct in his glare. It’s similar to how he looked during his MVP season.

Maybe, he’s just feeling better and has either finally shaken off the rust from his preseason knee procedure. Or maybe, he’s got used to shifting his style to become more of a distributor. Or maybe it’s just an overall comfort level.

All I know is something has shifted and Westbrook’s outward demeanor is reflecting it. This was most evident in how Westbrook made sure to punctuate the win with two massive dunks the likes of which we haven’t seen much of this season —

And, let’s not ignore the numbers. All season Russ has struggled shooting from virtually every distance on the court. That was definitely not the case last night as he nailed 10 of his 12 free throws and connected on 9 of his 20 field goal attempts for 45 percent efficiency.

He did all this while dishing 14 dimes, grabbing 10 rebounds and perhaps most importantly shifting the momentum to stop every Blazers run.

All I know is if this Westbrook is back to shooting closer to his career numbers – the rest of the NBA might want to get a little more concerned with facing the OKC Thunder!