Thunder seeking to continue hot streak in return from All-Star break
The Thunder have won three in a row and five out of their past six games.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are healthy and the team seems to be playing its best basketball of the season.
Everyone is lining up to put the Thunder in the playoffs, despite being on the outside of the top eight teams. Oklahoma City is a half-game behind Phoenix and just one game ahead of New Orleans.
Hard to not think big things of the Thunder these days as the last days of the All-Star break wind down. The Thunder's play is reason enough to feel some optimism, but it's the actions and play of Durant and Westbrook during the All-Star break that point to progress.
Durant is angry and Westbrook is motivated.
The combination is impressive and it will lead to a sprint finish for a team that has limped through the first half of the season.
If you're a Thunder fan you need a disgusted Durant. If you're a Thunder opponent you fear an enraged Westbrook.
For the first time, Durant jabbed at the media, showing signs – real or imagined – that he's had enough. The confluence of injury and a sluggish season tend to be irritants and the two came together so Durant threw a kidney punch saying he's not going to be friends.
That will change nothing in his relationship with the media and change everything with the way he's perceived the rest of the season. Now the burden is on Durant to preform. The defending MVP now needs a reason to play well? Umm, that sounds like great news for the Thunder.
Durant only has good games left. He's played just 26 games, but now is transitioning to a new, combative attitude. Umm, yes, please.
Meanwhile, Sunday in New York City, Westbrook shot it 28 times – making 16 – and was named the All-Star Game's MVP after scoring 41 points, 27 in the first half. He played like he had something to prove. He scowled after 3-pointers and danced after jumpers. He hit his head on the backboard and got a hug from Durant.
Westbrook showed everyone what Thunder fans already knew – he can carry the day. Now, sure, it was just an All-Star game and there's no real defense, but the angry face Westbrook showed up and he played the game like it was the Western Conference Finals.
Like Durant, Westbrook has had his run-in with the media this season. And like Durant, Westbrook has felt the pressure of a season dangerously being close to lost.
No one has picked on Durant this season. No one has criticized Westbrook any more than normal, in fact, Westbrook's play has gotten him mentioned in preliminary MVP talks this season, so when the two get terse or upset, that's only good news for anyone interested in the Thunder's success.
The two are inventing reasons to prove everyone wrong. Does anyone want to stop them?
Bot have missed extensive time with injuries. Both are fresher at this point in the season than any season previously. The team is also in a new spot, fighting for the playoffs, unlike any season previous. The trade deadline is Thursday and theres been plenty of talk, rumor and speculation around the team.
But the Thunder don't need to move pieces and add or subtract from this roster for success. They just need two two superstars, who have no NBA titles, who sense an unease and a season slipping away to bristle and buck and create enemies.
It can only help.