Not sure if this is LC’s 5 unit game for tomorrow, but if it is I apologize for stealing his thunder
The OKC Thunder are in dire straits (even though help is on the way). With Westbrook and/or Durant expected to join the team soon, OKC finds itself at the bottom of the Western Conference. They will have to make up a lot of ground (when their stars return) just to make the playoffs:
“This team is turning into lovable losers, and all that these early failures have done is move this season closer to the brink. Sunday night’s 91-86 defeat to Golden State inside Chesapeake Energy Arena was the Thunder’s sixth straight loss. It dropped OKC to 3-12, seven out in the loss column for the Western Conference’s eighth and final playoff seed. The hole is only getting deeper. The postseason is in peril. The Finals are a fantasy. This sour patch has forced even Brooks to scrap his one-game-at-a-time approach and begin doing some quick math. He’s admittedly now pondering this team’s postseason chances. “I’ve been putting some thought into that lately,” Brooks said. “The way I look at it, it’s sets us up for a heck of a ride during the regular season. I’ve always been a positive guy.”
Not only are the Thunder in a big hole right now, but the losses (many of them painfully close Det 96/OKC 80 in OT, Houston 69/OKC 65, Brooklyn 94/OKC92, Warriors 91/OKC 86) are taking their toll on this proud, pugnacious team:
“Fourteen games into a marathon NBA season — less than 18 percent of the way through a six-month journey — it felt far more like a team that had just been eliminated in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals than one that had just suffered a random mid-November 94-92 loss to the Nets. Jeremy Lamb moved first. He headed for the door but was swarmed by reporters before he could reach it. “Stay together,” a dejected Lamb repeated in a murmur, head aimed at the floor, searching for answers that continue to elude his team. For 10 minutes, Reggie Jackson sat motionless at his locker, ice packs on his knees and a glazed look in his eyes. He eventually made his way to the shower, then emerged minutes later, blurting out “so close” multiple times to no one in particular.”
But the Thunder are not giving up. They are playing extremely hard against more talented teams:
“It’s frustrating,” Jackson said, finally talking to reporters more than an hour after his potential game-winning 3-pointer rimmed out. “…I just want to win. We all just want to win. It’s tough. It’s disappointing. This group of guys, we’re like family,” Jackson said. “We’re tight-knit. We keep finding a way to wake up the next day and telling ourselves we’re going to be all right. And we keep doing it, somewhat defying the odds. Even though we’re not winning these games we battle with everybody, been close in every game. So it’s only a matter of time.”
Having played 5 games in 7 nights, this shorthanded Thunder team got a much needed 2 day break before facing Utah in a revenge game, where they lost to the Jazz (in Utah) after being up by 17 points in the first half. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, the Thunder players face the prospects of having to deal with the weight (and shame) of a 7 game losing streak on this festive holiday. So the Thunder are plenty motivated to put it all on the line tonight against an upstart Utah team that must be feeling confident, after having handled the Thunder at home. In winning this game, the Thunder would end a demoralizing six game skid, get revenge on a team that just beat them on the road, and make the holidays more pleasant (for themselves and their family) by getting this monkey off their back. Since the Thunder have lost a lot of close games, they’ll do everything in their power to not let this one go down to the wire.
The play: Thunder -4 for 2.5 units