Kevin Durant is out again tonight with a sprained toe. This will be Durant’s eighth game missed this season due to injury. Combining last season and this season to date–Durant has missed 62 out of a possible 117 games due to injury. Tonight will be game missed number sixty-three.
OKC better figure out in a hurry how to play a higher level of basketball without Kevin Durant in the lineup. In games this season to date without Durant the Thunder are 3-4 with the losses coming at the hands of the Celtics, Grizzlies, Knicks, and Kings.
Add to the fact the LA Clippers have now won six in a row and are suddenly only two behind OKC in the loss column for the No. 3 seed in the West. All the sudden OKC’s leisurely stroll thru January has a different feel about it if the Thunder lose tonight at home against the Grizzlies and Durant misses more than just tonight.
Memphis comes in at 19-17 and 8-11 on the road coming in tonight as a five and half point road underdog. The two teams have split so far this season with the Grizz beating the Thunder without Durant by a 122-114 count. With Durant–OKC blew out Memphis on the road in one of their more impressive performances of the season.
Memphis to date has been a disappointment to the point they’ve experimented with Zach Randolph coming off the bench while Matt Barnes is in the starting lineup. Grizzlies are 5-5 in their last ten games, yet in the now suddenly soft Western Conference—are the No. 6 seed.
OKC was brutal against the Kings on Sunday evening in absorbing a 116-104 home loss. The Thunder allowed a 68 point first half and the defense was an issue throughout the game.
Russell Westbrook struggled with a very tough shooting night and tried to force too much without Durant on the court with him. Dion Waiters and Enes Kanter were basically no shows going a combined 2-12 from the field. Without Durant, OKC has a very slim margin to win with that lack of production from what should be OKC’s two biggest bench scorers.
Bright spots in the loss were Anthony Morrow, Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams, Cameron Payne, and Kyle Singler. Same will be needed tonight from these guys, but with Kanter and Waiters making positive contributions.