Thunder Looks To End Road Woes In Brooklyn

Riding a two-game winning streak, the Thunder will be back in action on Tuesday night in Brooklyn when it takes on the Nets at 6:30.  

Related: Thunder Holds Off Jazz For Second Consecutive Win

Here are a few things to know about the matchup:

Nets are going nowhere

Arguably the worst team in the league, the Nets currently sit with a 12-53 record but are coming off a 120-112 win over the Knicks on Sunday where Brooklyn shot a whopping 50-percent (19-38) from behind the arc.  

With a roster made up of Brook Lopez, Jeremy Lin, Sean Kilpatrick and Trevor Booker, Brooklyn is attempting to get better under new head coach Kenny Atkinson. Seeing the Nets don’t own their first-round pick in either of the next two drafts, Brooklyn clearly doesn’t have any incentive to lose games.

Despite their bad record, the Nets sit in the top half of the league in points per game (105.8) but give up a league-high 114.1 points to their opponents while averaging an NBA worst 16.4 turnovers per game.

Thunder is struggling on the road

Even though the Nets haven’t won a lot of games this season, the Thunder likely won’t face an easy test on Tuesday night. The Thunder hasn’t won a road game since Jan. 26 in New Orleans. To put that time-frame in perspective, that was Enes Kanter’s last game before fracturing his arm the next night against the Mavericks.

While OKC has fallen to good teams such as the Cavaliers, Spurs, Pacers and Wizards over their seven-game road losing streak, it has also lost to teams with losing records such as the Blazers, Suns and Mavs.

Seeing the Thunder face a very good Raptors team on Thursday, look for OKC to come out determined against the Nets in order to end its road woes.

Westbrook chasing history

Russell Westbrook has been the story of the NBA this season, as the OKC point guard is on pace to be the first person to average a triple-double since Oscar Robertson in 1961-62. Not only is he likely to reach that feat (he has a 70% chance according to ESPN), but he only needs 10 more triple-doubles to pass Robertson’s record of 41 for most in a single season.

It won’t be an easy task for him to accomplish, but seeing OKC faces only five projected playoff teams over its final 16 games, Westbrook definitely has a chance to cement himself in the NBA record books.