NBA: The struggling Rockets and 5 other eye-opening early observations
By Colin Cann
Oklahoma City Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder have gotten off to a rough start. Losing four straight before finally getting a much-needed win over last seasons worst team, the Phoenix Suns. Granted, Russell Westbrook did miss the first two games of the year. They didn’t look much better when he returned, losing to the Sacramento Kings in his first game back.
He did put up another monster stat line, as he usually does, but he had the worst +/- on the roster, finishing -13. He bounced back with a stellar performance leading the Thunder to a win over the lowly Suns, who did manage to cut a 26 point fourth quarter lead to just seven before the game was over.
The Thunder may have deeper issues, as the top 3 defense that started off last season is gone. They are now allowing around the league average at 105.6 ppg, which wouldn’t be a death sentence if it wasn’t paired with a bottom 5 offensive output. Oklahoma City is only putting up 104.8 points per game, getting beaten out by bottom feeders like the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Phoenix Suns.
They currently sit just above the winless Cavaliers with 20.6 assists per game, and an atrocious 14.1 assist ratio, good for dead last. With a stagnant offense reluctant to move the ball the Thunder are also dead last in offensive rating, sitting at 99.6, the only team under 100.0 in the league. They currently sit in last place for both eFG% and TS% as well, making them easily the worst offensive team in the entire league to start the season. The Thunder need to make some changes sooner rather than later.