OAKLAND – An identity is something that every NBA team tries to build over the course of an 82-game season, and as the Thunder enters the final quarter of the year, playing its own brand of basketball consistently will be essential.
As it squares off tonight against the Golden State Warriors, the Thunder can look back to Wednesday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers as a perfect example of how having an identity, and sticking to it, makes such a huge difference. In the first half, the Thunder dominated the glass, played with force, selflessness and tempo on offense and clamped down defensively to get stops. In the fourth quarter, when its 16-point lead with seven minutes to go vanished, the Thunder strayed away from the type of team Head Coach Billy Donovan has tried to develop.
“We were really good in the first half,” Donovan said. “We played great defense and protected the paint and limited them to one shot.”
“If you wanted to say what kind of identity I want our basketball team to play to, it would be exactly what took place in the first half,” Donovan continued.
The tests don’t get any easier for the Thunder, nor do they want them to. The Warriors have the best record in the NBA and are infamously on the hunt to break the 1996 Chicago Bulls team’s record for most wins in a season at 72. In the first two matchups between these teams, the Warriors have squeaked past the Thunder, but both games have come down to the wire.
In order to break out of a tough stretch since the All-Star Break, the Thunder knows it must take care of itself first and deal with each opponent as they come. In a game where prime focus will be on defending the three-point line, getting back in transition and limiting fouls will be key, there’s no better opportunity for the Thunder to hone in on its identity than tonight against the Warriors.
At 42-19, the Thunder is still in prime position to make the playoffs and sits currently in the third spot in the Western Conference. How the team is playing, particularly heading into the postseason, will be the most important factor, so building good habits and developing a rhythm now can only help that cause.
“Our team needs this,” Donovan explained. “You get intoxicated by winning and fail to realize the slippage and things that are going on.”
“This is great for our team. They need to keep coming.” Donovan said. “This is great to keep playing a competitive schedule like this where you have to pick yourself up and come back out there against the best team in the league right now.”
Broadcast Information:
Tip-off: 9:30 p.m. CT
Television: TNT
Radio: WWLS the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network
