Oklahoma City Thunder
Nice Surprise: The physicality of Kevin Durant
Kevin Durant is too good to let one injury derail his career. So the fact that he’s once again one of the league’s premiere scorers is unsurprising. But Durant has been aggressive, attacking the basket more and shooting a career high 51% from the field. His rebounding totals are up and he’s getting to the line at a regular pace. Nice to see the surgically repaired foot his holding up.
Needs Improvement: Play Against the East
The Thunder are 7-8 against Eastern Conference opponents this year, including slip ups against New York, Boston and a pair of losses to Chicago. Interesting note courtesy of ESPN’s stats and information team, Durant is 4-16 against Lebron James. And if the Thunder are going to finally bring the title to The Big Friendly (that’s a nickname for Oklahoma City, in case you didn’t know that already) there’s a good chance they’ll have to go through “The Rock and Roll Capital of the World” (yeah, that’s Cleveland).
Next: San Antonio Spurs