Final score in Charlotte. pic.twitter.com/Jc3izZy8EF
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) January 5, 2017
It wasn’t the result we wanted as the Thunder have now started January 0-2. The Thunder found themselves in the game late, but floundered down the stretch in the last five minutes. While many will point to the foul discrepancy, the fact remains that OKC executed about as poorly as you possibly can en route to this loss.
Westbrook Shooting Woes
Ever since going 5-7 from 3 in the game against Boston, Russ has shot 4 for 22 (18%) from 3 in the last two games. While the percentage is awful it is much worse considering he has hoisted 22 attempts in the last two games. This is not a strength for Russ, and he quite simply cannot take this many shots from behind the arc and expect the Thunder to be successful night in and night out.
Stache Brothers Dominate
For everything that went wrong tonight (and their was plenty), Steven Adams and Enes Kanter dominated the interior once again. Adams had 18 points (on 8-10 from the field) and Enes Kanter had 22 (on 8-13). Together they combined for 20 rebounds. Their efficiency was spectacular tonight, and honestly was the lone bright spot on what was otherwise a pretty disappointing loss.
January Schedule is Scary
The Thunder have started January off 0-2, which is not good when you consider they have the following games: at Houston, at Golden State, at Cleveland, and at San Antonio left this month. That’s a rough stretch for even the best NBA teams (and I didn’t even include road games against the Clippers (who will likely be healthy by then), at Utah, and at Chicago. The Thunder will likely need to at least break .500 during this stretch or it could be a tough end to the season)
The Thunder are back in action tomorrow night as they travel to Houston on the second night of a back to back. Tip is at 7pm central on TNT.