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#pounditThursday, March 28, 2024

Russell Westbrook: Thunder must become mentally tougher to take next step

Russell-Westbrook

The Oklahoma City Thunder, by all accounts, should be playing in the NBA Finals right now. One of their stars knows that, and he knows that they need to work on their mental game if they want to get there next season.

Russell Westbrook said that, while the Thunder have made strides in that department, the team needs to take another step mentally if they want to get where they want to go.

“Mental toughness,” Westbrook said Thursday, via Berry Tramel and Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman. “I think we’ve gotten very, very well at that point, but I think to make the next step, we have to constantly do that throughout the whole season, not just late in the playoffs, because I thought we turned the page when it got to this time of year, but I think if we constantly keep that from start to finish, it makes it easier for us in certain situations.”

Oklahoma City’s fourth quarter failures were criticized all year, but they seemed to have stamped those problems out in the playoffs. That changed during Game Six of the Western Conference Final, where they turned the ball over five times in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter to turn a tie game into a defeat. Their ball movement broke down and their possessions were predictable, and they seemed to panic and go into “heroball” mode too frequently.

Ultimately, Oklahoma City looked like they didn’t know what to do when crunch time came after it had appeared they’d smoothed out their issues. Their play was criticized by former pros, but to be fair, it’s tough to overcome the Based God Curse, so the Thunder have an excuse.

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