Thunder Future Uncertain After Kevin Durant Injury and Other Thursday Takeaways
Everything had been going so well.
The Oklahoma City Thunder came into Thursday night’s 114-109 loss to the Golden State Warriors riding a seven-game winning streak. More importantly, it was reigning MVP Kevin Durant's eighth consecutive game after returning from a fractured foot earlier this month.
Now, both streaks appear to be finished.
After becoming the first player since 1976's ABA-NBA merger to tally at least 30 points in fewer than 20 minutes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (h/t ESPN.com's Royce Young), Durant left the game in the second quarter with a sprained right ankle and didn't return.
Russell Westbrook's 33 points and eight assists weren't enough in his absence, not on a night when Splash Brothers Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 53 points.
For the moment, however, losing to a hot team like the Warriors is the least of head coach Scott Brooks' concerns. The possibility of having to spend more time without a four-time scoring champion is the bigger problem.
Fortunately, X-rays offered encouraging news, and the organization has thus far described the sprain as "mild."
That may be sufficient reason for optimism in the context of most clubs, but the 12-14 Thunder are a different situation. This team would almost certainly rank alongside Golden State among 2014-15's early front-runners were it not for a November sabotaged by serious injuries to Durant and Westbrook.
In turn, Oklahoma City's margin for error between now and the postseason remains fairly thin.
It may be difficult to imagine teams like the Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans or Sacramento Kings outlasting OKC over the course of a marathon 82-game season, but anything can happen given enough bad luck.
This time, Durant rolled his ankle after stepping on Marreese Speights' foot—the kind of wrong place, wrong time injury no one could have anticipated. He stayed down on the court for a few moments before teammates helped him return to the bench. Now Oklahoma City can only hope a little rest and treatment do the trick as quickly as possible.
One would imagine Durant will miss Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, but there's really no telling how much longer his recovery will take. OKC could find itself tested several times before month's end by meetings against the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns.
With Durant, those are all winnable games.
Without him, the Thunder's sub-.500 season may get a bit worse before getting much, much better.
Around the Association
Rondo Tells Boston Goodbye
After multiple reports indicating on Thursday that four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo was on his way to the Dallas Mavericks via trade, the ninth-year veteran had some words for his fans and the Boston Celtics on Twitter.
"My time in Boston has meant so much. I've grown up with this city both as a basketball player and person. The love I have for the most loyal
— Rajon Rondo (@RajonRondo) December 19, 2014"
And while the Mavericks are already pretty good, it may well take something special to outlast the other elite teams out West.
Butler Drops Career High on Knicks
The Chicago Bulls beat the now 5-23 New York Knicks by a final score of 103-97 in a contest played without superstars Derrick Rose and Carmelo Anthony, who were ill and injured, respectively.
The difference was that Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau had another star to whom he could turn. Jimmy Butler scored a career-high 35 points while tallying seven assists, five rebounds and four steals—adding yet another well-rounded performance to his impressive season. Through 23 appearances, the 25-year-old is averaging 21.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per contest.
"All I can say is thank God for Jimmy Butler," Thibodeau told reporters after the game. "You can't say enough about him."
Chances are plenty more will be said anyway before season's end.
Cousins Returns from Viral Meningitis
Star Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins returned to the floor after a bout with a serious sickness, and there doesn't appear to be much rust. The Kentucky product led Sacramento with 27 points, 11 rebounds and five assists en route to a narrow 108-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Kings were just 2-8 without Cousins in action and have now lost five straight games.
Pelicans Scrapping in December
Already without Eric Gordon, the New Orleans Pelicans were also missing swingman Tyreke Evans (knee contusion) against the 19-6 Houston Rockets.
It didn't matter.
Anthony Davis accrued 30 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and five blocks as the Pels prevailed by a 99-90 margin. The win takes New Orleans to a 13-12 record, its first time above .500 since late November.
All things considered, that's not bad. The Pelicans are 6-4 this month, and the four losses were understandable. Two came to the Warriors, one to the Mavericks and the other against the Los Angeles Clippers. Three of those games were on the road.
Unfortunately, the remainder of the month won't be much easier with meetings against the Portland Trail Blazers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Chicago Bulls coming along with two games against the reigning champion San Antonio Spurs. One way or another, we'll learn a lot about this team by the end of December.
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