Oklahoma City Thunder unable to build momentum after defeating Golden State Warriors
The Oklahoma City Thunder were unable to build any momentum from their win over the Golden State Warriors, going on a losing streak afterward.
The month of November has been one of peaks and valleys for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Things started off poorly as they lost the first four games of the month. They dropped below .500 and things looked to be unraveling. However, they would quickly respond.
The Thunder would win three consecutive games, pushing their record back to the .500 mark. The team rallied with Steven Adams and Carmelo Anthony missing some time, as Paul George stepped his game up with a dominant weekend. Unfortunately, the Thunder would fall once again after that.
The Thunder would lose two more games in a row to the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans after that strong weekend. Some people could say it was because the Thunder were looking ahead to a big-time matchup against the Golden State Warriors.
The rivalry between the Thunder and Warriors reached another level when Kevin Durant defected from the Thunder, signing with the Warriors in the summer of 2016. Durant and the Warriors had their way with the Thunder last season, but things got off on a different foot this season.
Oklahoma City Thunder
After being blown out by the Warriors in four meetings last season, Oklahoma City returned the favor. The Thunder blew the Warriors out, defeating them 108-91. Oklahoma City got it done on both ends of the court, which lead to the dominant performance.
Golden State was held to 41.3 percent shooting from the field overall. Most importantly, the Thunder held the Warriors to only 32.3 percent from behind the 3-point line. That was a major area of improvement from last season, as the Warriors shot 45.1 percent from deep in the four games. The 22 turnovers forced also stood out as the Thunder pressured the Warriors all game.
Where the Thunder really improved in terms of matching up with the Warriors is that they have more firepower. Russell Westbrook doesn’t need to do everything offensively by himself as he now has Carmelo Anthony and George as running mates.
The Thunder Big Three carried the load against the Warriors. Westbrook, Anthony and George combined for 76 of the 108 points scored against the Warriors. It was a good performance for a team in need of a spark. Defeating the Warriors is something that could really get a team going. There was hope that would be the case for the Thunder, but that didn’t happen.
Instead of turning a corner and gaining some momentum, the Thunder have crashed following their emotional victory over the Warriors. Like they have all throughout the month of November, the Thunder have quickly gone into a valley after a peak.
After defeating the Warriors, the Thunder’s late-game woes continued against the Detroit Pistons. Oklahoma City led Detroit by 10 at halftime but was outscored by 11 in the second half. OKC has not figured things out in close games yet, as they are 0-9 in games decided by eight points or fewer.
After dominating the Warriors in the rebounding department and playing strong perimeter defense, the same just didn’t happen against Detroit. Westbrook even had a triple-double, which usually results in a guaranteed victory for Oklahoma City.
Granted, the emotions were not as high against Detroit as they were against Golden State. However, the Thunder looked up for the challenge in the first half; in the second half things didn’t go their way.
The Pistons are currently one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, as they are in the second spot. They are having a good season, but the Dallas Mavericks are not.
The Mavericks were one of the teams that George went off against earlier in November. Dallas must have learned from that game, as they defeated the Thunder the night after the Pistons did.
Dallas defeated Oklahoma City in blowout fashion, winning 97-81 after Oklahoma City defeated them 112-99 on November 12th. This time, there were no fireworks from George.
He shot a scorching 12-of-22 overall and 7-of-12 from deep for 37 points in the first meeting. In the rematch, George shot 1-of-12, missing all four 3-point attempts for only two points.
For a team with the expectations and goals of the Thunder, losing to the Mavericks is unacceptable. Dallas came into the game with only four victories and presented an opportunity for the Thunder to get right. They did not capitalize on that opportunity, as their record dropped to 8-11 on the season.
Oklahoma City is now tied for ninth place with the Los Angeles Lakers. That is not where they expected to be at this point in the season.
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Finding consistency and continuity isn’t an easy thing for a squad with so many new faces, but the Thunder have to figure things out soon or risk falling behind and digging too deep of a hole in the very competitive Western Conference.