The Oklahoma City Thunder became the first team in the NBA to play 12 games and that means the stars of the Thunder have gotten little in the way of rest. However, the Thunder have won 10 games so far, so the stressful race of early season games have not affected them too much.
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
Wikimedia Commons
The Thunder have gone undefeated over their last five games, despite playing the five contests in six nights.
The stretch started when Oklahoma City played a home-and-away series against the Houston Rockets. It was nice to start out with a struggling team, because in one of the two games, the Thunder were able to let their stars rest for an entire quarter as they rolled to a 109-94 win. The next night's game, in Houston, was much tougher, but Oklahoma City held on thanks to 52 combined points from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.
The next night, Oklahoma City faced off with 2010-11's best team, the San Antonio Spurs. While the Spurs have a winning record this season, they were no match for the Thunder, who once again rested their stars for much of the second half on their way to a 108-96 win.
After a one night break, the Thunder were on the road for back-to-back nights against the Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Hornets. Luckily for the Thunder, Memphis was without big man Zach Randolph, who made their lives hard in the 2010-11 playoffs, and Westbrook enjoyed his first 30-point game of the season for the win.
The next night, Oklahoma City came out tired, understandably, and fell behind after the first quarter to a Hornets' team that has only won three games this season. However, the Thunder turned it up and paced Durant's 29-point game for their fifth win in a row.
Finally, the Thunder get a break, with only one game in the next four days, a home contest on Sunday against the New York Knicks. It's a good time for a break, but the way Oklahoma City has been playing, they barely needed it.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.
Source: NewsOK.com
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