The Oklahoma City Thunder stumbled a bit over Christmas with a couple of losses, but took advantage of a matchup against everyone’s favorite slump buster, the Phoenix Suns, and got back in the win column. Unfortunately, Oklahoma City proceeded to lose against Dallas and they have now lost three of their last four and sit one game behind Denver in the Northwest Division.
A lot of Oklahoma City’s fortunes are tied to Russell Westbrook’s performance. It’s not that he’s the only talented player on the squad, but when he’s on his game he has the potential to be a game changer. Westbrook routinely posts double-digit points. In fact, he had done it in every game so far this year up until December 22nd when Jazz held him to just eight points. He got back into the groove of scoring double-digit points against Minnesota, Houston, and Phoenix. However, he was stymied against Dallas and posted nine points.
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Prior to that eight-point performance in Utah, Westbrook had recorded triple-doubles in five of his previous nine games. Since then, Westbrook has just done it once. His field goal percentage has been bad, he’s missing a lot of three-point attempts, and he has failed to reach double-digit assists in four of his last five games. It could be said that Westbrook is in a slump. However, he has a great opportunity to get back on track when the Thunder visit Los Angeles to take on a sliding Lakers team that is without LeBron James. The Lakers have given up a lot of points since James was sidelined with a strained groin, which creates an optimal scenario for those who are looking for Westbrook to get going again.
This will be the first time that the Thunder have taken on the Lakers this year. Last year, the Thunder faced the Lakers four times and they split the series. Not that it means a heck of a lot, but it is definitely worth mentioning that Russell didn’t exactly shine against last year’s version of the Lakers. In Oklahoma’s first game versus LA last year, the Thunder hammered the Lakers 133-96. While Westbrook recorded 20 points and 12 assists, he only managed six rebounds. In the next meeting, Oklahoma City thumped LA once again to the tune of 114-90. Westbrook scored 19 points but was held to six rebounds and seven assists. He then put up an impressive 36 points against the Lakers in their next meeting but was held to just five rebounds and nine assists. He did not play in the last meeting.
Getting double-digit points out of Westbrook is usually a given, but his performances over the past few games should give us a hint of doubt. His most recent history against Los Angeles would suggest that he will likely score double-digits but we shouldn’t give him more than a 50/50 chance of reaching double-digit rebounds. His prospects of reaching double-digit assists look even grimmer, despite the fact that he and his team will be facing a reeling opponent. Will Westbrook score a triple-double against Los Angeles on January second? Don’t bet on it.
