The Oklahoma City Thunder may get back Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook next week after the two players dealt with injuries early in the season and that could be huge for OKC as they try and bounce back from a tough start to the year in the western conference.
Durant has been out for the entire season and that came after he suffered a fracture in his foot while working out in practice and that came ahead of an injury to Westbrook. Durant has not played in a game yet this season and Westbrook went down in just the second game of the season. According to Pro Basketball Talk, Durant and Westbrook could return next week for the Thunder, as both have been recovering for weeks and have moved towards working out in full with the team. Durant originally had a diagnosis of six to eight weeks after fracturing his foot and now he is back doing basketball moves, including dunking at the team facility.
Westbrook suffered a fracture in his hand in the second game of the season and has been out since then and his diagnosis was for four to six weeks. Westbrook has been able to shoot with his injured hand and while he was wearing a splint for protection on his arm, he said that he should be on his way back soon. Scott Brooks said that both players would be participating in limited capacity in practice coming up and that could lead to a return sometime next week.
Although the Thunder are currently down in the western conference standings, it wasn't unexpected for the team after the injuries and now they feel they have enough time to dig out of it. The west is much tougher than the eastern conference, but getting back Durant and Westbrook completely changes the makeup of the Thunder roster. The team had been dealing with a ton of injuries and that allowed Serge Ibaka and Reggie Jackson to take over as the majority of the offense.
For the time being the Thunder are in the bottom of the west and they are already five games out of the playoffs, although it's a bit early to look at that. The team will have to dig out of a hole and they have 11 losses this season already. The schedule has not been helpful, as Pro Basketball Talk points out that Oklahoma City has had to play three more games than the Clippers have at the same period on the schedule, meaning they have had more matchups without their top two players.
The west is a tougher conference than the east and that means the Thunder will have to play well over .500 ball with Durant and Westbrook back to make the playoffs. Oklahoma City came into Sunday's game against the Golden State Warriors at 3-11 on the season and they are currently ranked 29th in scoring and seventh in points allowed per game. Jackson has been leading the way with Westbrook out and the Thunder are hoping both can remain healthy once they return.
