Weren't the Oklahoma City Thunder supposed to struggle after Enes Kanter fractured his forearm hitting a chair in frustration? Weren't they supposed to sink down the Western Conference standings as Russell Westbrook, doing his best Atlas impersonation, regressed under the weight of his immense usage rate and distributing responsibilities?
Apparently, traditional logic doesn't apply to this team. A 118-109 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers was only the latest piece of evidence, helping the Thunder build even more momentum heading into one of the biggest games on their calendar.
Next up: the Golden State Warriors, who will visit Chesapeake Energy Arena this Saturday. It's the first time Kevin Durant will suit up as a visitor in front of the ever-passionate Oklahoma City fans, and emotions are sure to run rampant as he squares off against Westbrook and the rest of his former teammates.
A week ago, after OKC had dropped consecutive games against the Cavaliers, San Antonio Spurs and Chicago Bulls, it seemed like the team might be doomed against the NBA's deadliest squad. But seven days have flipped the script, and the Thunder will now enter that crucial contest on the heels of a win over Cleveland.
In fact, the last four outings have featured this win, victories over the Memphis Grizzlies and Portland Trail Blazers and an easy-to-understand loss to the Indiana Pacers that came on the road as the third game in four nights. The Thunder are starting to figure things out again, and it's not just because Westbrook is still racking up triple-doubles.
The dynamic point guard picked up another one Thursday—his 26th of the season—with 29 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists and four steals. But he wasn't the only notable performer. Early in the proceedings, the team was winning even in spite of his woeful shooting, porous defense and turnover-prone play.
Cameron Payne was fantastic in his 13 minutes off the bench, spelling Westbrook successfully whenever head coach Billy Donovan called his number. The sophomore point guard registered 15 points on an impressive shooting display—even more notable because the man he replaced was the first off the bench to cheer him at every turn.
How about Alex Abrines?
The Spanish rookie made an impact with his energy and playmaking, even if his lone bucket will be the only moment featured on highlight reels:
Steven Adams exploded for 20 points and 13 rebounds, thriving when the Cavaliers focused on Westbrook in pick-and-rolls. Andre Roberson never stopped hustling on defense, and he was always quick to attack the glass and prevent Cleveland from earning second-chance opportunities. Domantas Sabonis, who's struggled immensely on offense as a first-year player, chipped in with eight points and two rebounds on 4-of-9 shooting from the field.
And most notably, Victor Oladipo had one of his better outings in a Thunder uniform, serving as the secondary playmaker Westbrook needs. The shooting guard finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, including the spinning layup that gave his point guard a triple-double:
This was a team effort, which isn't something you can always say about Oklahoma City while Westbrook runs the show. Obviously, that's often been a recipe for success, given the Thunder's 31-23 record and placement at No. 7 in the NBA's tougher half.
But it's still nice to see the balance, and it's important they achieve as much against the league's better teams. Westbrook alone wasn't enough to beat the Cavs the first time around on Jan. 29, as Royce Young explained for ESPN.com:
"Against one of the league's elite teams, the Thunder's margin for error is slim. It requires near perfection from Westbrook, and for his supporting cast to provide some kind of boost. On Sunday, neither happened. Westbrook walked away with another triple-double—his 24th of the season—but for just the sixth time, he also took a loss when recording one. He shot the ball miserably (7-of-26) and was clearly bothered by the Cavs' plan to bracket and swarm him in every pick-and-roll."
Beating Golden State during Durant's return won't be possible if the Thunder's supporting cast isn't up to the task, and the same will remain true during the inevitable first-round playoff series against a Western powerhouse.
Westbrook is a dominant individual force. He may even be the league MVP at the conclusion of the first 82 games.
But basketball remains a team sport, and his teammates helped prove that in their latest victory.
Give Some Love to Another Houston Guard
The Houston Rockets are James Harden's team. They'll only go as far as he can take them, since head coach Mike D'Antoni has placed an inordinate amount of trust in the bearded point guard's offensive prowess. Frankly, this level of point-producing responsibility might be unprecedented on a squad competing for a top-four seed.
It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Harden produced another monstrous line in Houston's 107-95 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, recording 30 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, a steal and a block. Sure, he struggled with his shot in the first half and was plagued by turnovers throughout, but the good still outweighed the bad by a large margin.
Though he'll be hailed as the hero, he wasn't the only Houston backcourt member to thrive against Charlotte. Patrick Beverley did as well, putting up 17 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals while playing fantastic, hounding defense against Kemba Walker and Nicolas Batum.
The tenacious guard hasn't received many headlines in 2016-17, but that doesn't mean he's been anything less than excellent in his role. He's thrived as a spot-up shooter and go-to perimeter defender, emerging as one of the NBA leaders in each category.
Heading into Thursday night's victory, he was scoring 1.15 points per possession in spot-up situations, which left him in the 85th percentile. Of all the players using at least 3.5 relevant possessions per game, just Otto Porter, Kawhi Leonard, Jae Crowder, Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Love and Isaiah Thomas have been more efficient.
That is the caliber of shooters to which Beverley must now be compared.
Meanwhile, he's the No. 2 point guard in ESPN.com's defensive real plus/minus, trailing only Chris Paul. No matter how tough his assignments have been, whether he's covering quick point guards or physical shooting guards, he's been capable of slowing down his foe. Without him, Houston wouldn't be anywhere near its current defensive level.
Beverley will never be Houston's MVP, but he does earn a rhyming honor: Even on a squad that features Trevor Ariza, he's been the team's best three-and-D contributor.
The Philly Youngsters Emerge
No Joel Embiid, no problem.
While the Philadelphia 76ers' star rookie sat out, the rest of his young teammates dazzled in a 112-111 victory that featured a furious fourth-quarter rally and another game-winner from T.J. McConnell:
But that bucket didn't make McConnell the true standout, though he did finish with eight points and eight assists. For that matter, neither did this tweet from Embiid:
The future became the present in the Amway Center, led by a career-high 24 points from Dario Saric. The other big-name Philadelphia rookie was active all night, ducking through traffic to finish plays around the rim when he wasn't raining down triples.
And he wasn't alone.
Nik Stauskas, who was seemingly incapable of making mistakes in the first half, produced 13 points, five rebounds and five assists. Nerlens Noel went for 10 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot even made an impact off the bench.
A single win over a struggling version of the Magic won't give the Sixers too much momentum in their quest to climb the Eastern Conference standings. But the growth of their youngsters might.
King of the Fourth
You know the story by now.
Isaiah Thomas can't be stopped during the fourth quarter. He's an impressive scorer whenever he's on the floor, but the diminutive point guard is almost literally unstoppable during the final 12 minutes. Everything the Boston Celtics do flows through him, and no opponents are capable of keeping him away from the rim.
Heading into Thursday night's 120-111 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, Thomas was pacing the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring. Frankly, it wasn't even close:
Isaiah Thomas: 10.6 points per fourth quarter
Russell Westbrook: 9.5
Kyle Lowry: 7.8
Lou Williams: 7.6
DeMarcus Cousins: 7.5
Thomas' mark is actually the best since 1996, when NBA.com first began tracking this data. Even more impressively, he's posting those numbers with incredible efficiency, shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 41.5 percent from downtown and 91.0 percent from the charity stripe.
Unsurprisingly, he was back to his old tricks in Rip City.
Boston led by one at the start of the final period, but another Thomas explosion propelled them to the final margin. The floor general recorded 15 points, one rebound, three assists and just one turnover on 4-of-7 shooting from the field:
At this point, teams might as well mark Thomas down for a dozen points before the fourth quarter begins and plan around that inevitability.
Throwback Performance of the Night
Active legend Dirk Nowitzki hasn't been up to his Hall of Fame standards during the 2016-17 campaign. He's fought through injuries to average 13.1 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting just 40.7 percent from the field and 37.9 percent from downtown.
But you wouldn't know that if the Dallas Mavericks' 112-105 victory over the Utah Jazz was the first time you'd watched the 38-year-old defier of Father Time.
Nowitzki logged 37 minutes while his team came from behind to force extra basketball. Even more importantly, he provided the biggest shot of the night. After Harrison Barnes missed his game-tying jump shot (he'd go on to drop eight points in overtime), the 7-footer was in the right place at the right time.
Then, he unleashed the trademark fadeaway:
That's as vintage as it gets, and it helped Nowitzki finish with 20 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Thursday's Final Scores
Houston Rockets 107, Charlotte Hornets 95
Philadelphia 76ers 112, Orlando Magic 111
Oklahoma City Thunder 118, Cleveland Cavaliers 109
Dallas Mavericks 112, Utah Jazz 105
Adam Fromal covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @fromal09.
Unless otherwise indicated, all stats from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com or NBA Math and accurate heading into games on Thursday, February 9.