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Oklahoma City Thunder: What’s wrong, and can it be fixed?

By Deanna Chapman

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 19: Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of a NBA game against the New York Knicks at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 19, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images)
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - OCTOBER 19: Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of a NBA game against the New York Knicks at the Chesapeake Energy Arena on October 19, 2017 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images) /
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The first 10 games for the Oklahoma City Thunder haven’t gone quite as well as planned, but can they right the ship moving forward?

The first 10 games for the Oklahoma City Thunder haven’t gone quite as well as anyone planned. With a core of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony, the team should be pretty good, right?

The team is currently sitting at 12th in the Western Conference with a record of 4-6. With only three teams with worse records in the West, things aren’t looking great for this new Thunder team.

So what exactly is going wrong for them? If you take a look at the leading scorer for each of their 10 games, the ball is certainly being shared between Westbrook, George, and Anthony. However, if you take a look at some individual stats, you’ll see some lackluster shooting performances from the core three.

In the win over the New York Knicks in their first game, the team looked good. But in their second game against the Utah Jazz, Westbrook shot an abysmal 18.2 percent from the field and make 1 of 4 free throws. He ended the night with six points and there was no way the team would win even though George and Anthony both had over 20 points. Not to mention, the Thunder didn’t get much help from any of the other players that night.

However, with the loss against the Jazz being only the second game of the season, there wasn’t an immediate cause for concern. It’s only been during their recent three game losing streak that some problems have really come to light.

On November 7th, the Thunder played the Sacramento Kings.

Taking a look at the box score, we can see that the Thunder started out strong in the first quarter and lost their steam from there. The game started with a 10-0 run by the Thunder and in the second quarter, the Kings came back with 32 points to take the lead by one point going into halftime. Going into the game, the Kings had a single win to their name. The team is full of mostly young players and the Thunder definitely shouldn’t be losing to a team that inexperienced even if they’re on the road.

In the fourth quarter, the Thunder had to try to dig themselves out of a double digit deficit and just couldn’t do it after only scoring 16 points a quarter for the second and third quarters. From what I’m seeing in the stats, Westbrook needs to work on his poor free throw shooting as of late. He’s had three games where he’s shot 50 percent or less from the line.

For Paul George, turnovers look to be somewhat of a concern for him. He had six in the loss to Utah. But other than that, he’s largely been consistent on the offensive and defensive end (he has 24 steals and 4 blocks for the season so far).

Carmelo Anthony has been mostly solid on the offensive end, like George. Against the Kings, he had a poor shooting performance and shot 23.5 percent from the field. Consistency seems to be the team’s main downfall so far. Even when the core group plays well, they aren’t getting the support they need from the bench.

Their best team performance so far was their game against the Milwaukee Bucks. They won the game 110-91 and not a single player scored over 20 points. George sat right at 20 points and four other players finished with double digits. The Thunder out-rebounded and out-shot the Bucks in the win. With a good overall performance like that, the team can thrive.

SACRAMENTO, CA – NOVEMBER 07: Russell Westbrook
SACRAMENTO, CA – NOVEMBER 07: Russell Westbrook /

Most of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s losses have come against teams that honestly aren’t that great. The same can be said about the teams they defeated. Their four wins have come against the Knicks, Pacers, Bulls and Bucks. The Knicks and Pacers have slightly better records than the Thunder, the Bucks are tied with them and the Bulls are just flat-out bad this season and sit at 2-7.

Of their losses, the Thunder should have been able to defeat the Kings, Jazz, and at least one of the Timberwolves games. That would put them at 7-3 instead of 4-6, which would be more on par with what many expected out of this team.

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What can the Oklahoma City Thunder do to get back on track? Honestly, I think it’s just going to take them a little more time to figure out how the team best works together. Turn the ball over a little less, be more productive on offense (and hit those free throws), and they should be able to figure it out from there. The biggest obstacle is getting the bench more involved each game. The starters can’t carry the entire team without a little help.

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