Following perhaps one of the Thunder’s best games in the Billy Donovan era in Portland on Friday, the Thunder were humiliated at home by former coach Scott Brooks and his decimated Wizards by a count of 116-98. Brutal. That would be the word to describe the effort by the Thunder against a team which was missing three starters and was ten games below .500. If you took a poll, the Wizards would be this season’s most disappointing team in the East. Yet, they just strolled into the Peake on Sunday night and did what they wanted against the listless seemingly exhausted Thunder.
I’d have to call it the Thunder’s worst game of the season because this wasn’t just about not making shots. This loss was because the Thunder showed little effort and were beaten on the boards, on the bench, and by never showing any real sustained interest in the game.
Are you kidding? Your former head coach who you fired walks into your arena with a wounded team and just basically kicks your ass when you’re trying to keep pace with the Nuggets and the Warriors.
It’s an 82 game marathon and everybody has bad games, but this was a regrettable performance. This is a microcosm of the Thunder in the Billy Donovan era, just when you think it might be different his team didn’t seem to care. This was just basically a no effort and no focus deal.
I’m sure Scott Brooks appreciates the gesture of goodwill from his former city.
What else do you really say after a performance like this one.
Another team in disarray visits the Peake on Tuesday in the Timberwolves who just fired their coach and team president. These same Timberwolves beat the Thunder on Dec. 23rd by a 114-112 count. Maybe the Thunder care…maybe they don’t. Who would know?