If Oklahoma City wants to compete next season, a consistent effort away from home becomes goal number one. The Thunder missed out on a couple of tries to gain win number 20 at the Ford Center and takes their NBA low five road victories into four of the next five contests.
While OKC should be concentrating on the future, I find it hard not to look at the last couple of games. Fresh off an impressive showing against San Antonio, the Thunder looked lackluster against Chicago and Utah. Maybe the Bulls and Jazz didn't take the up-and-coming squad lightly, but the lack of defense mainly contributed to the home losses.
Kevin Durant's return changes the offense for the better but what about the defense? My hope is that the last couple of times out were just a let-down from the Spurs win and not a tell-tale sign of things to come. How OKC fights the next month means more about which direction the Thunder take in the off-season than how they finish in the standings.
There are plenty of scorers to go around in Oklahoma City, and now is the time to find out who wants to play on both ends of the court.
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