No team having more fun right now than the Oklahoma City Thunder
OKLAHOMA CITY –€“ Every timeout, every basket. Just give the Thunder players a reason to celebrate and they will.
Good times here in Oklahoma City these days as the Thunder won their seventh in a row. The most recent was Tuesday over Indiana, making it nine wins in their last 10. All smiles, pats on the back and rainbows. Gold stars all around.
Who's having more fun than these guys? No one, that's who. Only Cleveland is playing better basketball than Oklahoma City, and that includes Memphis, Golden State and all those Western Conference powers.
All's good when you're winning.
The Thunder players look like they are in the first hour of a guys trip to Vegas, minus the beer bottles. Everyone is shouting, high 5s come cheap and there's so much hugging. The bench players look like they could be extras from Dance Party USA and every timeout the players cue up like it's a receiving line at a wedding.
Congrats, congrats, congrats, be well, congrats, hug, congrats.
"The team that is winning is going to be having fun," Indiana coach Frank Vogel said. "They were winning. It looked like they were having fun."
Vogel's right. The Thunder aren't just winning, they are partying in basketball shorts. In their current streak, only one of the wins has been by fewer than double digits. Tuesday's 105-92 victory came to be as OKC never trailed, led by as many as 23 and then turned a semi-close second half lead into a rout, highlighted by three 3-pointers in the first 1:17 of the fourth quarter.
And all of this recent success has turned the Thunder from playoff outsider to championship contender. And it's like the players know it.
Mitch McGary hugs anything that walks. He even gave coach Scott Brooks a playful slap on the chest. Anthony Morrow celebrates 3-pointers like he won the lottery and Russell Westbrook's game is RedBull with a jumper.
Physical? Sure, but with the Thunder that isn't just a style of play, it's handshakes, embrace and emotion. More touching than John Travolta on Oscar night. Even a mistake, a turnover or a missed free throw comes with an arm around the shoulder.
"So much fun," new acquisition Enes Kanter said. "I'm actually liking basketball. I've never felt like this before. It's how close we are. Everybody tries to help each other. I've never seen it before. I've played for a lot of teams and never seen it before."
Thunder fans have seen it, but might have forgotten about thanks to a start of the season that was all frowns. Reggie Jackson was unhappy. Everyone was injured. And now? Now, even without Kevin Durant, who is out with an injured foot, the winning seems to come easy, but the ease of the game seems to be the reason for winning.
Westbrook is streaking like Durant did a year ago when Durant won the MVP. Now Westbrook seems to be on the same trajectory. He went for 20 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in less than 29 minutes. Serge Ibaka had 23 points and 10 rebounds. Kanter had 15 point. Dion Waiters, Morrow and McGary combined for 35 points and 17 rebounds.
No wonder everyone's in a good mood. No wonder it looked like this:
It's not just the winning. It's the attitude. The new faces and the immediate chemistry. There's no pouting and there's seemingly no problems. The bad vibe that hung over the team and the lockerroom for much of the first half of the season has lifted.
"Everyone played with good spirit," Brooks said. "It was a good team win. It's not as easy as it looks."
Easy, difficult, simple, impossible. Who knows, but it sure looks fun out there.
Follow Andrew Gilman onTwitter: @andrewgilmanOK
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