If you watched the spanking the Spurs put on the Thunder last night, you saw Oklahoma City’s stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook exchange words during a potent San Antonio run. To some this was shocking, but Westbrook says it’s no big deal – there were getting on each other and that’s what teammates do.
“I was just getting on Kevin about some stuff and he got on me right back,” Westbrook said in his post-game interview, broadcast on NBA TV. “That’s what teammates do. That’s what leaders do. We get on each other, we come back and we talk about it and then we come out like nothing ever happened.”
“We got frustrated with one another because we gave up the three threes,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said of the incident in his post-game press conference, downplaying the incident. “Those are the type of frustrations that I like in a basketball team. It’s on the defensive end. We gave up some threes, and we wanted to make sure that did not happen going forward. It happens with every team.”
OKC’s defense took a big hit with the news that post enforcer Serge Ibaka would not be available for the remainder of the playoffs, but that’s no excuse for how the Thunder have been playing. They’ve often been lethargic on defense and stagnant on offense. If they want to avoid a sweep, we will need to see a whole new team in Oklahoma City on Sunday.