The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the many teams trying to keep pace with the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference. Despite firing Scott Brooks and hiring Billy Donovan for this season, the Thunder entered the year expecting to contender for a championship, but the team is slipping, having lost five of their last seven games. The 103-98 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers highlighted the fact that the Thunder are still far off from contending this year.
The team blew a 22-point lead to lose to the Clippers, which is drawing harsh criticism from players on the team. Oklahoma City has a window for a championship considering Kevin Durant heads to free agency this year while Russell Westbrook follows in 2017. Durant wants an NBA title now, and while he is trying to be patient and positive, he knows that the Thunder cannot win when playing like this.
"They made plays, we didn't," Durant said. "They were disciplined, we weren't. We want to be a great team. We're fooling ourselves. If we just want to be a great team, the way we're playing, we're fooling ourselves. We want to win a bunch of games in the regular season, that's cool, but we're fooling ourselves with the way we're playing."
It is hard to see the Thunder winning the Western Conference with the way Golden State is playing, but the team is expected to be better than how it looks right now. Late-game collapses are becoming the new normal for the Thunder, and that must change before getting into the postseason. Statistically, the Thunder have now lost nine games this season when leading in the fourth quarter. Head coach Billy Donovan admits that frustration is high right now.
"You get intoxicated by winning and you fail to realize the slippage in things that's going on," Donovan said. "When you get into these situations, most times, we would probably win a game like this doing what we did in the fourth quarter."
The big question for the Thunder is whether or not the frustrations of the season will lead Durant elsewhere in free agency. Sources report that the Warriors have the best chance to sign the former league MVP if the Thunder do not. Oklahoma City is certainly not out of the race to keep Durant, but the star wants to be with a contending team. If the Thunder cannot prove that they are that team or will be that team in the near future, Durant could head somewhere else.
