Thunder's recent slump stems from lapses in intensity and attention to detail. The path back to championship contention lies in reigniting these fundamental elements.
The Oklahoma City Thunder has put together just a .500 record over its last 12 games, and since starting the season 24-1, the Thunder has still been a good team, but certainly not the clear-cut championship favorite it expects to be.
There are several statistical data points with real cases to be made for why the drop-off has happened, notably three-point shooting, defensive efficiency, assist generation and even turnovers created, plus many of those things are Oklahoma City’s identity. When the things you lean on to do really well aren’t happening, that often leads to the kind of rut we’ve seen from OKC of late.
But with that in mind, it all starts with intensity, effort, and attention to detail, which is really the crux of the Thunder’s issue. Again, there are plenty of statistical drop-offs over the past few weeks as the Thunder has slipped relative to its standards, but it truly does come down to the little things.
Making the extra pass. Making the right cut at the right angle. Taking the highest-quality shot. Playing inside-out, driving to the rim, kicking out to open shooters who are in rhythm. Putting forth the extra effort and intensity it takes to make another couple of rotations defensively to ultimately force the turnover or make the opponent take the tough shot. It’s those little things that bubble up and ultimately result in the statistical drop-offs, but it all starts there.
And as young as the Thunder is, that every-night intensity and effort had never been a problem getting up to this point. It’s been more noticeable of late, and that’s why this recent stretch of games is not a reason for concern. At some point, the sense of urgency will kick in. Ideally, it’s sooner than later, but even right now, the Thunder has a pretty comfortable cushion for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, and some big high-profile games coming up that the team should be motivated to give its best punch.
Ultimately, these struggles are completely fixable. This is not a situation where the team doesn’t have the roster constructed to do the things it needs to do to win a championship. It comes back to finding its identity and doing the little things that set it apart, in addition to the high level of talent on the roster.