The Oklahoma City Thunder are hoping some unlikely players emerge as stars over the coming weeks thanks to injuries to their two biggest stars. Kevin Durant is out with a foot injury while Russell Westbrook is out with a hand injury. That is not exactly the plan the Thunder had in mind for their season where they were hoping to contend for an NBA Championship. Now they head to the East Coast to face the Brooklyn Nets dealing with injuries of their own.
With both Durant and Westbrook out, Perry Jones and Serge Ibaka are leading the charge for the team alongside Kendrick Perkins. Jones is now an important part of the Thunder's game plan with Westbrook sidelined at least a month with a broken hand. The small forward is doing his part after putting up a career-high 32 points and then following it up with 23 points against the Denver Nuggets. Following the opening game loss to Portland, Jones is shooting 19 of 35 while going 6 of 13 from beyond the ark. Ibaka had 23 against Denver while Perkins had 17 off the bench. Oklahoma City is keeping their fingers crossed that the three players can keep things up in order hold the team together until Durant and Westbrook return.
The Brooklyn Nets are relying on their veterans for wins at the moment. The team lost their opener to the Boston Celtics but bounced back with a win against the Detroit Pistons thanks to 18 points and 14 rebounds from Kevin Garnett and 34 points from Joe Johnson who had 15 of those in the final eight minutes of the game. The Nets will also be getting Brook Lopez back in the lineup who is making his return to the court following a season-ending foot injury last year. Lopez missed the first two games with a sprain in the same surgically-repaired foot. Lopez should help the defense which let the Celtics shoot 55.7 percent on Wednesday while the Pistons only went 1 of 17 from beyond the arc.
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