If the Oklahoma City Thunder played in the Eastern Conference, their 3-11 face plant to open the season might not be a crisis. In the West, 3-11 leaves them with a steep climb to reach a play-offs position.
Over the past five seasons the Thunder have been the best team not to win a championship, but most thought they would do something about that soon, even after the trade of James Harden to the Houston Rockets, ahead of the 2013/14 season, essentially a salary dump of their No 3 player.
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OKC did not seem too concerned because they still had top-10 talents Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook playing for them.
Durant led the league in scoring last season and won his first MVP award, but he broke his foot in the middle of October and is out another two weeks, at least. That left Westbrook as the last star standing, but he has a broken bone in his hand and may not be back before the new year.
The complementary players have not been able to replace the stars.
The Thunder are the lowest-scoring team in the league, at fewer than 90 points per game. Their best remaining player is Serge Ibaka, an excellent defender who struggles to score.
The Thunder should be fine when their two stars return, but a hard sprint could be required to reach the play-offs.
A year ago, the last West team into the play-offs won 49 games. For the Thunder to reach that victory total they may need something like a 40-10 closing surge. That may be too much even for a club with Durant and Westbrook.
poberjuerge@thenational.ae
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