NBA Rumors and Injuries: Will Recent Injuries Spoil the Thunder's Season?
Kevin Durant sprained his ankle Wednesday night against the Pacers, Nate Robinson is out 4-6 weeks after having arthroscopic knee surgery and Kendrick Perkins is out 2-3 weeks with a knee injury.
It seems as if after trading Jeff Green and Nenad Kristic to the Celtics, everything has gone wrong for the Thunder. Will its season end on a high note? Probably, since Durant's injury isn't serious and both Robinson and Perkins are expected to be back by the playoffs.
More importantly though, this is the time when James Harden must shine. Oklahoma City will be without Durant for probably a few more games, and without him, the team lacks a wing scorer.
Harden, over his last 10 games, has been excellent, with a shooting percentage around 46.4 percent, averaging 14.3 points per game in roughly 26 minutes. He has not yet lived up to his third-pick status in 2009, but here is a perfect opportunity for Harden to shine.
The Thunder has stars Durant and Russell Westbrook playing well this season, but OKC is not rotating the ball on offense, and struggling mightily on defense. The team ranks 20th in assists per game, and 26th in allowed points per game in 2010-2011.
Durant is arguably the best scorer in the NBA, but his field goal percentage is down to around 46.5 percent, and he's making only a third of his attempted 3-pointers. Maybe expectations are a little bit high for this young team after it stunned the world last season, but there's no reason why the Thunder should be having offensive problems.
Oklahoma City is just 1-7 against the top three teams in the Western Conference (San Antonio, Dallas, Los Angeles), and has recently struggled in big games.
The team currently stands at 37-22, and first in its division, but it needs to get healthy as quick as possible. The lack of chemistry from the trade might hurt this team, as Jeff Green was with OKC since his rookie season.
When healthy, this team has three strong defenders in Thabo Sefolosha, Serge Ibaka and Perkins. Granted, the front court is a little bit undersized, but chances are Scott Brooks will rally his troops and they will make some noise in the playoffs.
The bottom line is that OKC is depleted right now. Health is the main concern, as the month of April and the playoffs are fast-approaching. Hopefully the injury bug isn't pestering this potential-loaded team much longer.
