A game like Sunday's loss to the Nets is why some don’t consider the Thunder to be serious NBA title contenders.
Oklahoma City fell 116-106 in Brooklyn, snapping a seven-game winning streak for the Western Conference’s third-place team.
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Brook Lopez was stellar, as usual, scoring 31 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and blocking three shots in the win for the 12-33 Nets. Brooklyn also got a big boost from its bench as Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 points in 28 minutes on the floor.
Kevin Durant had a great game with 32 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists and Russell Westbrook was solid with 27 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. But the rest of the team scored just 47 points combined.
The Thunder have been a really good team all season, and at 33-12 they have more wins than the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers. But they've already lost to Sacramento and Portland this month and, with the Spurs (38-6) and Warriors (40-4) playing lights out, they clearly are the third wheel.
Losing games like this doesn't exactly help their case to join the elite.
Stud of the night
James Harden had his second triple-double in the past five days. Harden came up with 23 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists as the Rockets beat the Mavericks, 115-104. His teammate, Trevor Ariza, was also very good, scoring 29 points on 11-of-15 shooting.
Dud of the night
The Sixers' backcourt left a lot to be desired Sunday. Ish Smith and Jakarr Sampson combined for nine points on 4-of-15 shooting as Philadelphia fell 112-92 to the Celtics.
Tweet of the night
There were only four NBA games on Sunday, leaving the rest free to watch the NFL's conference championship games.
Congratulations to the @panthers! #sb50 pic.twitter.com/QIkXzUaPUE
— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) January 25, 2016
Looking ahead
Spurs (38-6) at Warriors (40-4), 10:30 p.m. ET: This has been the most-anticipated game on the NBA schedule since Christmas Day. The Warriors come in as the defending champions, with the league’s best record and a clear front-runner for MVP. They are also on pace to break the NBA’s all-time wins record. And as great as they’ve been, the Spurs are just two games behind them, but you’d never know it considering the relative lack of buzz around this team.