Oklahoma City Thunder: Will Paul George’s magical season end in disaster?
After a great first half of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder are limping to the playoffs and are in danger of wasting away Paul George’s magical season
For much of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked like third best team in the Western Conference. Behind Paul George‘s magical breakout season, in which he found himself in the thick of the NBA MVP race for much of the year, the Thunder finally appeared ready to compete with the likes of the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference.
And with the star power that the team carried at the top, they were looking more and more like a legit threat to come out of the West this season, even more so considering the Warriors looked less like their dominant self.
However, with less than a week remaining in the regular season, the Thunder have had a terrible last two months and have found themselves sitting in the 7th spot of the West, staring down a first-round playoff matchup against the Warriors, Denver Nuggets or Houston Rockets – all series that they would be underdogs in.
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What exactly went wrong? What changed over the course of the last two months for the Thunder? And could it be fixed before – or in – the playoffs?
Losers of seven of their last 10 games, those are not easy questions to answer. However, if there’s one glaring change from their pre-all-star performance to their post-all-star performance, it’s definitely the team’s offense.
The Thunder have had a top 10 defense for much of the season, but their offense has shifted dramatically over the last couple of months. Before the all-star break, the Thunder had the 13th ranked offense – a little better than league average, and good enough, coupled with their top 10 defense, to be a factor in the Western Conference.
However, during the post-all-star season, the Thunder’s offense has dropped from 13th to 27th. No matter how good your defense is, there’s probably not one great enough to overcome an offense that is ranked fourth-worst in the league.
Especially in today’s game, where it’s probably more fitting to have an unstoppable offense than a tenacious defense.
Could Paul George and Russell Westbrook get hot in a playoff series, especially against an inexperienced team like the Nuggets? Absolutely. However, I’m not sure that’s something that should be expected at this point in the season.
As the Oklahoma City Thunder limp into the playoffs, there’s a very good chance that Paul George’s magical MVP season will end in another disastrous first-round playoff exit, which no one could’ve expected just two months ago.