If the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs are currently the undisputed 1 and 1A of the NBA, then the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder are 2 and 2B. Despite inconsistent play—the Thunder struggled to put down the inferior Denver Nuggets last night, something they’ve had trouble doing with inferior (and vastly inferior) teams all season—and an inconsistent commitment to new head coach Billy Donovan’s schemes, OKC is 31-12, entrenched in the third spot in the West, and playing the best basketball that they have all year, the winners of five straight. Since December 4, the Thunder are second, behind the historically great Spurs, in net rating.
Last night was more of the same. Led, as always, by Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, who are playing more symbiotically this season than ever before, the Thunder ran all over the Nuggets. Durant was the box score star, finishing with 30 points and 12 rebounds. But as usual, Westbrook—who finished with 27 points and 12 assists—was the motor.
And as good as Russ was on both sides of the floor, what really stood out last night was the dunks. Just look at this:
Westbrook is one of the NBA’s most underrated dunkers and one of its most explosive—he dunk furiously, like he despises the rim. He dunks so hard you can hear the ball.