NBA scores 2016: The Oklahoma City Thunder are skidding, but Russell Westbrook keeps going

The Thunder have dropped four straight.

Nov 15, 2016, 1:00 PM UTC

NBA: Oklahoma City Thunder at Detroit Pistons

Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder started off the season 6-1, and Russell Westbrook’s seemingly impossible mission of doing it all himself was working. The Thunder had an easy first few games, but still beat the otherwise undefeated Los Angeles Clippers. They also pulled off wins against playoff-caliber teams in the Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers.

But ever since, they’ve dropped four straight, including losses to a not-so-good Orlando Magic team at the buzzer from the hands of former starter Serge Ibaka at home and a Detroit Pistons team missing its stars, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson. Granted the second loss was on the latter part of a back-to-back, but OKC was still blown out, 104-88, on Monday night.

The most concerning part? Westbrook held up his end. His seven turnovers were a problem, but he still tallied 33 points on 11-of-21 shooting, 15 rebounds, and eight assists. The rest of the Thunder roster shot 33 percent from the field to score 55 points, and hit just five combined three-point shots. Two other players scored in double-figures and both came off the bench as Jerami Grant scored 11 and Enes Kanter scored 10. Westbrook outscored the other four starters combined by 13 points.

The Thunder came into Monday’s contest averaging 106 points per 100 possessions, ranked 17th in the league, and that number is bound to drop. Defensively they rank fourth, and that’s what’s kept them in games, but is it reasonable to expect Westbrook to maintain his 32 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists per game? Even if he can, it’s been proven that those numbers aren’t enough to hold off some bad teams.

OKC has to find a way to better acclimate Victor Oladipo, the man they blindly extended $84 million to, into the offense, and quickly. He’s averaging 16 points, but doing so on 42 percent shooting.

The Los Angeles Clippers have blown teams out worse than the 73-win Golden State Warriors

After taking down the Brooklyn Nets, 127-95, the Clippers etched their mark in history with the fourth-largest point differential through 11 games in NBA history, outscoring teams by 183 points, according to Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver.

The Clippers are 10-1 and came into the night with the highest net rating in the league, holding teams to 95 points per 100 possessions, while scoring 111.

Their strength of schedule may not be the toughest so far, but they do have an impressive 24-point win over the Spurs to show for it and appear to be the team to beat until Golden State settles itself in.

Anthony Davis found some help to pick up win No. 2 for the Pelicans

The final minute dragged on as referees took their time to tack on tenths of a second at various stages of a neck-and-neck game, but eventually the New Orleans Pelicans, winless a week ago, were able to win another over the Boston Celtics, 106-105.

Anthony Davis only had to score 25 points on what was a bad shooting night, hitting just 7-of-22 attempts and grab 16 rebounds in this one. The Pelicans found contributions from Langston Galloway, who scored 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, and Tim Frazier, who sealed the game on the free throw line to cap off 10-point, six-assist night.

Isaiah Thomas’ 37 points and seven assists weren’t enough for Boston, which was without Al Horford again due to a concussion.

James Harden dazzled again

The only player with ridiculous enough numbers to keep up with Westbrook, James Harden had another big night against the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday. The now-point guard had 23 of his 33 total points in the first quarter alone, nearly outscoring his opponent, 26-23. He finished with nine assists and seven rebounds, snapping his seven-game double-double streak, but easily pushed his team to a 6-4 record with a 115-88 victory.

The Beard is now averaging 30 points, 13 assists, and eight rebounds per game.

Play of the night

Russell Westbrook dunked so hard.