It’s been a storm-tossed season for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but they’ve navigated it well enough and—so long as Kevin Durant returns at full health—seem to have weathered the worst of it.
Last year’s MVP has been phenomenal when healthy, but he’s out again after a minor procedure to alleviate soreness from surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his foot—an injury that gets scarier when you’re talking about seven-footers with humongous load-bearing feet. Still, though, all indications are that this latest procedure will help keep Durant on the floor down the stretch this season. And meanwhile, Russell Westbrook has been putting together an MVP-level campaign of his own.
Despite being pretty banged up, Russ has Westbrook’d his way through the pain of tweaked knees, rolled ankles and a dented face, throwing up a pile of triple-doubles and Jordan-esque stat lines. And if he keeps lighting the league up every night and snatches the MVP award away from Steph Curry or James Harden, it would make him and KD the first teammates to win back-to-back since Bob Cousy and Bill Russell in the 1957 and 1958 seasons.
Then there are the roster moves.
OKC brought in Dion Waiters in early January, then shipped out Reggie Jackson, Kendrick Perkins, Grant Jerrett, the rights to German big man Tibor Pleiss and a protected future first-round pick in a three-team trade with the Pistons and Jazz on deadline day. The Thunder received Enes Kanter and Steve Novak from the Jazz and Kyle Singler, D.J. Augustin and a 2017 second-round pick from the Pistons. These deals have allowed OKC to move on from Reggie Jackson and given them legitimate backups at the point guard, small forward and centre positions.
Rookie forward, Mitch McGary, has also been a beast—albeit in a limited role—especially as a finisher in the pick-and-roll with Westbrook. He’s a hell of an energy guy and figures to be a key fixture in the OKC rotation heading into this year’s playoffs and beyond.
Yet, with a 34-27 record, the Thunder are still only a game up on New Orleans for the final playoff spot out West, and there’s one name that’s been conspicuously unmentioned through the all the ups and downs: Serge Ibaka.
As a matter of fact, the six-foot-10 Congolese forward was even starting to garner some mild criticism in the lead up to the all-star break, primarily that he wasn’t aggressive enough or playing with the fire he’s come to be known for in seasons past, and that he was settling for too many threes.
In his 53 games prior to the all-star break, Ibaka averaged 13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks, while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from the three-point line. He also averaged a career-high 3.6 three-point attempts per game before the break, which was way up from the 0.7 per game he attempted last season.
The criticism, in short, wasn’t entirely unfounded, which is why someone in the Thunder organization should be arranging a gift basket for Adam Silver. The commish extended the all-star break this season, which gave Ibaka seven days off in the middle of February.
He’s been a different player ever since.
In his first seven games back, Ibaka is averaging 17.9 points, 11.6 rebounds and 3.1 blocks on 54.6 percent from the field. He’s only shooting 25.0 percent from three, but he’s cut his attempts down to 1.1 per game since the break.
Whether it was recovery time for nagging injuries, relief from physical and mental exhaustion or time for reflection and, maybe, for some of the media criticism to reach Ibaka and spark a response (all of the above?), Ibaka has looked more like the player we were expecting to see at the beginning of the season.
Even in last night’s overtime win against Philadelphia—his worst game since the break—Ibaka shook off foul trouble and a rough shooting night to redeem himself with two clutch blocks down the stretch in OT that helped seal the win for the Thunder.
OKC has 21 games left in the regular season and an easier schedule than New Orleans or Phoenix—the two teams they’re competing with for the eighth spot. It’s looking like Durant is at least another week away from returning to action, and OKC has been the Russell Westbrook show all year, but Serge Ibaka remains the Thunder’s x-factor.
Remember last year’s conference finals when Ibaka was inactive the first two games with a calf injury and then played hurt for the remaining four games? OKC probably wins that series with a healthy Ibaka.
The Thunder are going to make the playoffs and, let’s be honest, few people would be surprised if they made the NBA Finals from the eighth seed. But it’s not going to be easy sailing and even with a healthy Westbrook and Durant and an upgraded bench, the Thunder need Ibaka to be the difference-maker to have a chance at a title.
Here’s hoping the Son of the Congo can maintain his post-all star form.