Once Russell Westbrook headed to Houston, the Oklahoma City Thunder were supposed to be headed toward a rebuild.
The team Westbrook returns to face this week doesnt look like a team headed for the lottery. Its playing like one Westbrook might see again in the postseason.
The Thunder welcome back their former point guard Thursday, with both doing just fine since going their separate ways last summer.
Thats not a surprise for Westbrook, given that he was sent to join former MVP and one-time Oklahoma City teammate James Harden on a high-scoring contender. He has scored 20 or more points in 12 straight games, with three straight of at least 30 late last month, and averaged 27.8 in that span to raise his average to 24.1.
He said his return would be emotional because of how much Oklahoma City and the organization meant to him, but he didnt want to detail much leading into it.
I dont want to get that much into before the game and on and on, but after the game we can discuss whatever you like, he said Monday at practice.
With Harden seemingly running away toward another league scoring title, the Rockets went into the first full week of 2020 tied for second place in the Western Conference. Down in seventh place were the Thunder, who had won five in a row before losing 120-113 in Philadelphia on Monday.
Before that, they were on a 14-4 surge after a 6-11 start. Billy Donovan was Western Conference coach of the month in December after the Thunder went 11-4, and nearly saw his team rally for another win Monday.
We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole, and weve had that happen before where weve gotten down, but these guys always fight back, Donovan said.
The Thunder had already sent Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers when they dealt Westbrook to the Rockets for Chris Paul and four first-round picks. Paul has been combining with super sub Dennis Schröder and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, acquired along with Danilo Gallinari from the Clippers, for nearly 60 points per game during the 18-game stretch.
Westbrook fell one assist shy of a triple-double in October in his first meeting against Oklahoma City.
OTHER GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK
Denver at Dallas, Wednesday. Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic might both throw a couple incredible passes en route to triple-doubles.
Houston at Atlanta, Wednesday. With James Harden and Trae Young, the game features two of the NBAs top four scorers and a chance to turn into a shootout.
