Should two consecutive losses be a cause for concern?
The Thunder dropped the final game of their homestand on Tuesday night, falling 114-106 to the San Antonio Spurs. Coupled with their 112-111 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon, it was the first time in nearly a month that OKC had lost back-to-back games.
But its not so much the fact that the Thunder lost as it is the way in which they lost that concerns Berry Tramel of The Oklahoman.
Tramel points out that even with two wins to start the four-game homestand, OKC pulled out “narrow victories over hapless Cleveland and Detroit”.
After playing a grueling schedule of 17 games in 30 days, Oklahoma City had a couple of days off at the beginning of last week prior to the start of their recent homestand.
Billy Donovan told The Oklahoman that while the time away might have helped the Thunder heal up, it also may have negatively impacted their groove.
“I think maybe from a rest standpoint it helped, but maybe from a rhythm standpoint, it didn’t help,” Billy Donovan said. “I felt like we didn’t play to a level we had been capable of playing to. A lot of teams over 82 games have these ebbs and flows. It’s not going to be smooth sailing.”
The Spurs’ win on Tuesday snapped a five-game losing skid for San Antonio. Not exactly a great look for Oklahoma City considering the Spurs were also playing without DeMar DeRozan.
While Chris Paul was exceptional, scoring a game-high 31, the rest of OKC’s go-to guys weren’t at their best. As noted by Tramel, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Schroder and Gallinari combined for 46 points, 12.1 below their collective season average”.
Oklahoma City has one more game before the All-Star break. They’ll play at New Orleans on Thursday night.
They’ll have a full week off before hosting Denver on Friday, Feb. 21. Hopefully this time, the time off will help them regroup.