The OKC Thunder began the season struggling to win away from home, but suddenly the team is winning on the road and reaping the benefits.
The Northwest Division is chock full of talented teams who were all expected to perform better than the OKC Thunder. Yet, as the NBA passes the quarter pole of the season it’s the Thunder, Kings, and Suns who are on the rise while the Western clubs who began the season with self-imposed expectations are struggling.
The longest road trip for the OKC Thunder this season is four games of which they’ll partake on two occasions. The game in Portland this past Sunday marked the first game of the initial set and the Monday match in Utah provided one of the most difficult back-to-back road sets any team will face this season.
The Thunder were 2-7 on the road prior to embarking on this four-game stint. The quartet of contests features teams from their division, elite squads and mostly clubs predicted to finish well ahead of OKC this season. So, the task at hand could’ve been deemed daunting or if unsuccessful affected the confidence level of the players.
Instead, OKC has embraced the competition and with the victory in Utah ensured they’ll do no worse than a split on the road. The loss to the Kings puts them at 2-1 and they’ll complete the trip Saturday in Denver.
What happened for OKC to suddenly win on the road and at a decent clip?
Entering Wednesday, OKC had won three in a row and five of their last six games. Comparatively, through the opening 17 games, the Thunder were 6-11.
The easiest answer might be the team is finally gelling. They’ve had time to figure out their flow, offensive rhythm and know each other’s tendencies. Another factor is while OKC was in virtually every match losing repeatedly in clutch time they didn’t allow the losses to break them down. Instead, this revamped iteration of the club stuck to the team’s principles seemingly electing to view those close losses to elite squads as inspiration.
The resulting effect is the Thunder has flipped the switch in clutch time games. They are winning now and the confidence is evident in their on court demeanor. Sure they lost to the Kings — but they are in a similar position to the Thunder, if anything the Kings have greater expectations given their 2018-19 performance.
The group of games where the switch occurred:
We could cite the upset overtime victory over the 76ers. Or getting to play the Warriors and Pelicans three times in six days which helped the team to gain a rhythm and build confidence. And, while the trio of LA games were all losses, OKC was in every one of those matches.
Personally, I think it’s the compilation of those seven games (eight if you count the November 27th blowout by the Blazers). During those eight matches, OKC learned specifically what it took to break through and saw how close they are to the elite teams. And while this club may not have the same level of talent when they play tough-nosed defense, move the ball and work as a team they know they can give themselves a chance to win.
Preseason each of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers and Utah Jazz were among the teams mentioned who would contend for a postseason berth or even win the Conference (Jazz). The Thunder weren’t expected to be anywhere close to the pack chasing a seed.
Yet, with a quarter of the season in the tank, neither the Blazers or Wolves are on the ladder and the Jazz sits on the sixth rung having lost six of their last nine games (including their most recent win over the Wolves on Wednesday).
Meanwhile, the three-game win streak by the Thunder was against that exact trio of Northwest division rivals and it’s OKC who began Wednesday on the seventh rung and sit ninth after the loss to Sacramento with identical records of 11-13 to the Kings and Suns who reside seventh and eighth on the playoff ladder.
The Sacramento Kings like the Thunder are pulling out some big wins of late including a buzzer beater over the Rockets. And the win over the Mavericks who were arguably the hottest team in the West at the time since they had just beat the Lakers at Staples.
The jumbled West affecting strength of schedule:
Finishing up this road trip OKC will play in the high altitude of Denver to the Nuggets who are experiencing their own struggles.
Maybe it’s a matter of luck that the Thunder are getting to play the Wolves, Blazers, Jazz, and Denver at this time. The latter has lost five of their last seven including their win Thursday over the Blazers.
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It was always noted here at TI that the first quarter of the Thunder schedule was a nightmare and if the club could get through it at or close to .500 it would be miraculous.
Granted, at the time there wasn’t the knowledge Stephen Curry and Zion Williamson would be injured. While the Warriors and Pelicans have been terrible don’t underestimate how much those injuries affected their clubs and in the case of the Warriors D’Angelo Russell and Draymond Green also missing multiple games due to injury.
Our initial assessment expected those two clubs to be a more difficult opponent. Yet, it’s also fair to say the copious clutch time games offered several that were a coin flip, bad luck, bad call away from being wins.
The other thing we didn’t (or possibly couldn’t) foresee was how many clubs in the West would struggle or suffer injuries. Even if you didn’t think the Blazers, Wolves, or Spurs, for example, was guaranteed a playoff berth there weren’t many who predicted all three would be well off the ladder at this stage in the season.
As the OKC Thunder moves forward through the remainder of their schedule and the trade deadline comes and goes this new found road warrior attitude will serve the team well.