OKC Thunder 'Not Panicking' Despite Three-Game Skid

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be fine come playoff time despite the recent rough stretch of basketball.

There is no panicking going on within the Oklahoma City Thunder locker room. Nor should there be any reason to. The team is on a three-game losing streak for the first time of the season.

First of all, for the first three-game skid of an entire season to come with five regular season games remaining is quite impressive. While it likely means the Thunder ends up with the No. 3 seed rather than the No. 1 seed, it doesn't necessarily matter.

While playoff positioning is important, none of it matters if the team's stars aren't healthy. The reason behind the losing streak is the injuries of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. While, fortunately, both injuries are relatively short-term, they are also injuries that need time to heal so those two players are 100 percent healthy for postseason basketball.

Thunder guard Josh Giddey understands the recent struggles, but also knows it's unimportant on a larger scale.

“We’re not panicking. We’re not flustered or worried as a team. We know what we’ve got here,” Giddey explained after the team's loss on Friday.

What the Thunder is going through is something every team in the NBA has to go through. Thunder rookie Chet Holmgren is well aware of such, too.

“That’s the NBA,” Holmgren said. “That’s not an excuse, that’s how it goes. Other teams go through, we go through it. This is just the point in the season when we’re going through it.”

The timing is very unfortunate, but it's better off happening now than during a first-round series or just before. Williams' return should be on the horizon as he was listed as "doubtful" rather than "OUT" for Friday's contest.

Injuries have been an aspect of the game that have rarely impacted this season for the Thunder, and this is the first real trial the team has gotten from injuries. If anything, it'll help build the confidence of the depth on the roster ahead of meaningful basketball.

The sky is not falling. The Thunder will be fine. Soon, the team's three-game skid will be out of mind and won't matter.

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