The Oklahoma City Thunder are dealing with tough injuries to Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but the play of Reggie Jackson in their absence has the team feeling that it can stay afloat in the western conference and that would be huge for the franchise, as OKC has been one of the most consistent teams over the past few years.
Jackson has been playing very well in the absence of Durant and Westbrook and he feel that the team can stay in the playoff mix without them. Durant will be out for at least another month, while Westbrook could return a bit sooner, but he also will be out for a while longer. Jackson comes in averaging 22.8 points, 7.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds with the two stars out and he said the team has to "tread water".
This season the team is 3-6 on the year and they are coming into Friday against the Pistons after a win against the Celtics. The team is ranked 27th in points per game, but they are ranked seventh in defense and they have been able to get by without the superstars for now. Jackson should parlay this into a nice contract coming up, as he has been impressive this season so far.
Westbrook injured his hand while going up for a rebound early in the season after he made contact with Kendrick Perkins and he appeared to be in some pain after bumping into his elbow. The Thunder were already playing with nine players at the time with Kevin Durant, Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb out and it went down to eight with Westbrook getting hurt. Durant is out for at least a couple months with his injury and now the Thunder will have to find a way to keep things going without their two stars in the starting lineup.
Durant comes into the season after winning MVP and he averaged 32 points per game last season, while Westbrook was tops in assists and now he will have to be the main offensive threat for the Thunder. The Blazers come in after winning 54 games last season and making the playoffs and they will start against the Thunder at home before a road matchup with the Sacramento Kings.
The Thunder won 59 games last season and they went 11-5 in the division and this will start the season and Durant could be out for a couple months. The Thunder are still going to be one of the favorites in the west, but they may have to do it from a different seed than last season. The Thunder have been one of the most consistent teams in the NBA over the past few years and now their depth will be greatly tested with Westbrook and Durant both out. Westbrook could miss a chunk of time with his injury and that will put Jackson and Perry Jones in a starting role along with Sebastian Telfair. The team has dealt with an injury to Westbrook before, as he was out for part of last season after getting knee surgery, but Durant was healthy for that time period.