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March of the Ant
Christian Wood is back in the lineup and the Thunder are 2.5
games outside of the play-in spot (10th) in the West.
After a 3-15 start to the season, the team has been playing
a bit better than .500 ball and has rattled off three 3+ game winning streaks.
The Kemba for Jrue swap was a certainly a huge catalyst here, and getting
another shooter in the lineup with Curry helped accentuate that change.
But this current moment is all about Anthony Edwards.
Finally getting some recognition for his extreme athleticism and talent - he is
ready to really contribute. Through the first 10 weeks of the season he was
averaging about 10ppg on 35/32/90. In week 11, equipped with some flashy
looking badges and ratings - he went for 13 on 59/50/83. He turned from easily
the biggest negative of the lineup that would routinely tank large portions of
the game shooting non-stop to somebody that looked like they could lead any
second unit to positive minutes and possibly earn a starting spot on a
playoff-hopeful team.
The team knew that it wouldn't get a lot from the rookies
this season - with a pretty well-built veteran cast, they have been pretty ok
with not even playing rookies at all and still happy with their choices for the
long-term. But having a guy like Ant that can come in and just get buckets is a
huge boost - they really don't have any other wings that can takeover a game -
most of the rest of their scoring coming from bigs and small guards. So, this
really gives the team a new dynamic to play with for the 2nd half of the
season.
The Wood and Randle pairing hasn't been quite as offensively
dominant as the team would like in early returns - but hopefully the coaching
staff can crack that code in the near future.
Hopefully past the horrendous start, the Thunder can catch
some of these middle-tier Western Conference teams. There is a real difference
between 11th - where they are now, 10th - where they need to be to play-in to
the tournament, 8th - where they'd have an advantage in play-in tournament and
finally 6th where they wouldn't have to fight for their lives to get in.
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