Despite the team's recent struggles, Oklahoma City Thunder fans have no reason to panic

Oklahoma City Thunder

The first week of March, an unusual seven days in the NBA, saw the Miami Heat and the Indiana Pacers end the week on a three- and four-game slide respectively. At the same time in the West the Oklahoma City Thunder seem to have their own worries, having lost two in a row, to the Phoenix Suns and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Is this a cause a concern or a mere bump in the road for the title contenders?

Taking into account the players on the roster of each of these teams it would be unfair to say that the past week was a sign of things to come for all of them. For the Heat it’s their second three-game skid of the season, but nobody is worried about the two-time defending champions being unable to make it to the Conference Finals, at the very least.

But what about the other two franchises? Is it panic time for them?

Let’s focus on Kevin Durant and his Thunder, who have been moving in the opposite direction from what they intended at this point in the season despite explosive point guard Russell Westbrook making his return to the starting line-up. As hot as Durant has been this calendar year, he has failed to take the team over the line the past couple of weeks and get the W as consistently as he did prior to his team-mate’s return.

So what is the problem with the Thunder? Have they lost their tag of being championship contenders?

It’s easy to panic, given that their record in the past two weeks has not been encouraging, but the team is far from done. With 19 games left to play they are still very much in the race for the top spot in the West.

There is more than one reason why it is not yet time to panic in the Thunder locker room, and why the Thunder fans should not be unduly worried. Here are those reasons:

Westbrook is not the problem

Russell Westbrook is not the reason for the Thunder’s recent struggles

Anyone who blames Russell Westbrook for Thunder’s 3-5 record on the grounds that he has uprooted the successful team chemistry needs to dig a little deeper. The player is returning from knee injuries, and in only his sixth game back he recorded a triple double against the Philadelphia 76ers in just 20 minutes, the fastest in the NBA over the last 60 years.