5 Troubling Signs from Oklahoma City Thunder's Early 2014-15 Season

The first week of the Oklahoma City Thunder's season is in the books, and some aspects of those games were a bit unsettling. 

The team has started off 1-4. All four losses—Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, and Toronto Raptors—have come against teams that made the playoffs last season. 

The recurring theme has been injuries. After losing four key players (Kevin Durant, Jeremy Lamb, Mitch McGary, Anthony Morrow) in the preseason, several more have managed to go down during the season's opening week. 

All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook broke a bone in his right hand during the loss to the Clippers. He underwent surgery to repair it and will be re-evaluated in four weeks (per ESPN.com). 

The hits didn't stop there. 

Shooting guard Andre Roberson sprained his foot against the Nets. Small forward Perry Jones, one of the lone bright spots in a season filled with chaos, left the Raptors game early after banging knees with fellow big man Patrick Patterson. 

Power forward Serge Ibaka is also nursing a sore ankle, per CBS Sports' James Herbert.

As terrible as all of that sounds, there are actually more troubling takeaways from this year's opening salvo. 

Injuries

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When describing the Thunder's injury woes, "troubling" is an understatement. It's disheartening and depressing. Whether you are a fan of the team or not, you can't help but have a pit in your stomach as the herd becomes thinner. 

Every game of the team's season has been like an episode of Game of Thrones. Who would be the next one to go? The streak of losing players has become almost comical. 

It started with center Kendrick Perkins, who missed all of training camp and the preseason with a strained quad. Next, rookie Mitch McGary fractured his foot in his NBA debut. After that, Reggie Jackson hurt his wrist against the Dallas Mavericks. 

The granddaddy of them all then happened: Kevin Durant suffered a Jones fracture in his foot. He underwent surgery and will be re-evaluated in six weeks (per ESPN.com's Royce Young). That's when the writing started to form on the wall that this may be a rough year. 

Jackson returned from his wrist injury only to sprain his ankle in his first practice back. In that same practice, Jeremy Lamb would strain his lower back. In addition, shooter Anthony Morrow sprained the MCL in his left knee. 

Wait, it's about to get worse. 

After a thrilling season debut against the Blazers (38 points, six assists), Russell Westbrook would break a bone in his hand just nine minutes into the second game of the season. His return date will become clearer once he's re-evaluated in four weeks. 

After missing three games, Jackson would make his return against the Nets. As he came back, shooting guard Andre Roberson left with a sprained foot.

"That's just how things are going right now," head coach Scott Brooks said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "But we're not throwing the white flag. We're going to keep battling." 

The next casualty would be Perry Jones, who limped off the court with a knee contusion against the Raptors. 

For those scoring at home, that leaves the club with just seven healthy players (sort of). Jackson got pretty banged up against Toronto, injuring his wrist and knee. He finished the game, but it was clear he wasn't himself. Sebastian Telfair is the only relatively healthy guard on the roster. 

As the season progresses, survival has become more important than winning a championship. The team still has an outside shot at making the playoffs if it can get back to full strength. However, at this point, that's a huge if. 

Poor Three-Point Shooting

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Oklahoma City's offense as a whole has stumbled out the gate. They are scoring 90.8 points per game, which puts them 26th in the NBA. Per ESPN's Hollinger stats, the Thunder are 26th in offensive efficiency with 94.7 rating.

A large part of that is due to poor shooting from behind the arc. The team is shooting a putrid 27.7 percent from three this season, which is 24th in the league. 

In defense of Scott Brooks' boys, they are without most of their best three-point marksmen. With no Kevin Durant or Anthony Morrow, OKC has had to turn to power forward Serge Ibaka as the main man on the perimeter. The big man has converted 43.5 percent (10-of-23 shooting) of his attempts from deep. 

Before going down with a knee injury, Perry Jones was doing his part as well. The former Baylor star has gone 8-for-22 shooting (36.4 percent) from three. 

However, those have been the lone highlights. 

Sebastian Telfair is 5-for-25 shooting (20 percent). Reggie Jackson is 2-of-14 shooting (14.3 percent), including missing all six of his attempts against the Raptors. The now-injured Andre Roberson is 0-of-3 shooting. 

Fortunately, help may be on the way soon. Morrow has been doing some individual work on the court, according to Anthony Slater of The Oklahoman. There's no timetable for his return, but he's progressing.

Last season, Morrow was fourth in the NBA in three-point percentage (45.1 percent). His return would give this offense a huge boost. 

In the meantime, the hope is that Jones' knee injury isn't serious. Without him, a flimsy offensive attack becomes even less intimidating. At this rate, Brooks may have to resort to running plays for limited big man Kendrick Perkins to get things going. 

Where's the Defense?

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In addition to the team's struggles on offense, the defense has been subpar. Oklahoma City is giving up 101.2 points per game, which is 22nd in the NBA. The club is also 24th in defensive efficiency (107.6), per ESPN's Hollinger stats.

The team has also done a poor job of generating turnovers, forcing just 11.2 errors per game (26th in the league. 

Injuries play a small part in these problems. The absence of Russell Westbrook and Andre Roberson has been and will continue to be felt in the backcourt. Reggie Jackson (6'3", 208 pounds) and Sebastian Telfair (6'0", 170 pounds) lack the size to hang with bigger guards. 

However, the Thunder definitely have the horses up front. Center Steven Adams is a strong, athletic defender who could blossom into one of the league's best rim protectors if he can stay out of foul trouble. Serge Ibaka has led the league in total blocks in each of the last four seasons. 

Behind them, Kendrick Perkins is a fine post defender. 

Still, opponents are shooting 44 percent from the field against this short-handed squad. 

Until OKC gets some of its wing players back, the defense will continue to hemorrhage points. With no depth behind them to provide a breather, Jackson and Telfair aren't going to exhaust all of their energy by giving maximum effort on both ends of the court. 

Head coach Scott Brooks will have to come up with creative ways to get stops because the scoring isn't there for this team to win any shootouts.

4th-Quarter Woes

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What the Thunder have lost in star power, they have made up for in heart. Scott Brooks doesn't get nearly enough credit for keeping his squad afloat by transforming the players into a scrappy bunch that fights every night to stay competitive. Even with injuries piling up, there has been no quit in this team. 

However, even the most courageous fighter tires out after the 12th round. 

That has been the case for Oklahoma City. The team battles hard for three quarters before running out of steam in the last period. A lack of depth has a lot to do with it. There are just not enough healthy bodies to keep everyone fresh down the stretch. 

DailyThunder.com's Royce Young may have summed up the franchise's fourth-quarter struggles best:

"

The Thunder’s fourth quarter scoring this season: 21.4 points on 37.2 percent shooting while allowing 29.4 points on 50.9 percent shooting. The first three quarters? They’re averaging 23.1 points on 46.0 percent shooting. That’s spelled F-A-T-I-G-U-E.

"

OKC has been outscored 147-107 in the game's final frame this season. In the season opener against Portland, the Thunder took a 77-75 lead into the fourth. The Blazers then proceeded to outscore Russell Westbrook and company 31-12 en route to a 106-89 victory. 

"I thought we played hard. That's the only thing I can ask from the guys. Just compete, play hard and play for each other," Brooks said afterward, per the AP. "They did that tonight but we made too many mistakes at the end of the game." 

Unfortunately, this problem will get worse before it ever gets better. As the team continues to take its lumps, it will become harder for players to conserve energy. A team with only seven healthy players is forced to choose between playing dead for three quarters and exploding at the end or fighting hard early and petering out. 

The moxie this group has shown is admirable, but that becomes moot if it doesn't lead to victories. 

Too Many Turnovers

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Turnovers have become a huge problem for the Thunder. The team has turned the ball over 84 times this season, 22 against the Clippers alone. They are averaging 16.8 mistakes per contest. 

Some of that can be attributed to a lack of experience. With many of the team's veterans relegated to wearing fancy suits at the end of the bench, the roster is now filled with unproven players trying to carry more of the load than they are able to handle. 

As a result, the Thunder are forcing the issue. For example, in his season debut against the Nets, Reggie Jackson turned the ball over seven times in 42 minutes. By comparison, Russell Westbrook (who was second only to Kobe Bryant with 3.8 turnovers per game last season) committed just five errors in the same amount of time (albeit over the course of two games). 

"I need to continue to be aggressive, continue to attack and find guys for easy baskets,” Jackson said, per NBA.com's Nick Gallo. “I just have to protect the ball."

Jackson's play earned the fourth-year guard some public chastising from his head coach, per Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman:

"

'It’s simple. You just have to get off the basketball,' Brooks said. 'You got four teammates out there. You just got to move the basketball. In order for other guys to participate you've got to move the ball. And we didn't do that tonight, particularly Reggie didn't do that tonight.'

"

Jackson was a little better in his next game, committing just four turnovers in 42 minutes against the Raptors. 

Still, with the offense struggling to find its shot and the defense having too many lapses, these guys can't afford to make matters worse by giving up the ball. 

The Thunder have won the turnover battle just once this season. That came in the team's lone victory (against the Denver Nuggets). That's not a coincidence. With no Westbrook or Kevin Durant to bail the team out, OKC's only chance for success is playing smart basketball. 

If the trend continues, the season may be too far gone by the time the stars return for their presence to matter. 

All team and individual statistics are accurate as of the end of play on Nov. 4 and are courtesy of ESPN.com.