Thunder point guards Russell Westbrook and Chucky Atkins have been in a funk shooting the ball. Westbroook is shooting 31.9 percent over his past five games and Atkins is shooting just 29 percent over his last five games.
Atkins, a career 36.6-percent shooter from 3-point range, has made just 2 of 14 shots from behind the arc over that same span. "He hasn't shot the ball as well as he would like or is capable of doing," said coach Scott Brooks. "But we've done some good things with him.
"We'd like to have all of our point guards shooting better. They're all better shooters than their percentages indicate.... They're very prideful in their shooting. They all want to shoot better. But if you base your performance on making shots and missing shots, you're going to have a roller-coaster career. You're going to be an emotional wreck because your shot comes and goes."
Lesson to be learned from the Lakers
Brooks said that if the Thunder could take one thing away from Tuesday's 107-89 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, it's how the Lakers approached the game regardless of the Thunder's record.
"They came out and competed," Brooks said. "They really got after us defensively...What they did was pretty impressive."
Krstic excused from practice
Center Nenad Krstic was excused from Wednesday's practice for personal reasons and has been excused from today's session. A Thunder spokesman said Krstic is expected to join the team in Toronto for Friday's game against the Raptors.
