Russell Westbrook is out until All-Star break
Russell Westbrook
On Friday, Russell Westbrook from the Oklahoma City Thunder underwent knee surgery and will be staying off the court until after the All-Star break, missing at least 27 games.
The coach stated that “he will be missed” as the Thunder were getting ready to face the Charlotte Bobcats on Friday night and his absence will become even clearer with every game.
While Westbrook was not experiencing any pain a couple of days ago, his knee started swelling and he had to consult a surgeon in LA. The initial plan was to monitor the knee and get a few MRIs to establish the best course of action, but further evaluations determined that surgery was needed in order to fix the swelling. The area did not have any previous major issues and nothing came up on past procedures.
Durant scores 34 for a close victory
Reggie Jackson replaced Westbrook on Friday and Kevin Durant once again managed to shine, scoring 34 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder take down the Charlotte Bobcats 89-85. While not many expected the game to be this close and the Thunder failed to cover the point spread offered by online sportsbooks, the win is all the matters for the second team in the Western Conference right now. They are tied with the Portland Blazers at 24-5 and it looks like it will be a close run in the West as the San Antonio Spurs are just one win away from catching up.
Despite being the man of the night, Durant insists on the fact that he can’t do it alone and has stated that he needs Reggie Jackson, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins and other players on his team to lean on each other. On Friday however, it was the rest of the team who leaned on Durant, who got 14 points in the fourth quarter and had 12 rebounds when the close game was over.
Of course, Durant did not do it all on his own and Ibaka helped with 12 points and nine rebounds as Thabo Sefolosha added another 12 to the board, some of which were free throws in the last 3.5 seconds of the game to secure the win. It is the seventh straight win on the road for the Thunder and the 11th one from the past 12 times these two teams met.
Kevin Durant
Jackson was averaging 12.5 points before Friday but it seems that he needs some time to get used to his new spot as he only got 4 shots out of 19 from the floor. Brooks stated that Jackson will get better and will make more shots in the upcoming games.
For the Bobcats, Kemba Walker scored the most points, finishing with 18 and seven assists. Another 16 points were added by Al Jefferson and Charlotte performed well as the game against one of the toughest opponents in the league came down to the wire, but were unable to seal the deal.
It certainly was close and with less than 4 seconds remaining on the clock, the Bobcats had the chance to emerge victorious but Josh McRoberts was unable to land a crucial 3-pointer while being wide open. After that, Sefolosha got fouled and got both shots in for the Thunder to finish the game with just 4 points separating the two teams.
Despite the close score, the Bobcats coach was not happy with the team’s performance and criticized his players for not paying attention to details and doing a poor job.
The Thunder will now host the Houston Rockets on Sunday while the Bobcats will travel to Atlanta to play the Hawks on Saturday.
