While the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs have dominated headlines in the Western Conference, Billy Donovan’s Oklahoma City Thunder are flying under the radar.
Led by forward Kevin Durant and guard Russell Westbrook, OKC has won 13 of its last 15 games, with its only losses coming on the road at Golden State and in Brooklyn against the Nets.
Donovan has let his stars take the bulk of the workload, with Durant ranking third in the league with 27.8 points per game and Westbrook ranking second with 10 assists per game.
At 39-14, the team sits in third place in the conference, nine games back of the Warriors and 5.5 games behind the Spurs.
Beal starting in limited fashion: Wizards guard Bradley Beal is finally back in the starting lineup, but he likely won’t be logging heavy minutes for the rest of the season.
After being sidelined for 16 games with a fibula injury and returning to the Washington bench to play sparingly, the fourth-year guard made his first start of the new year on Friday night, playing 32 minutes and scoring 22 points against the Philadelphia 76ers.
After coming off the bench the next day against the Charlotte Hornets, Beal played another 32 minutes in his next start against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, scoring 26 points in a win.
According to the Washington Post, Beal said he expects to play roughly 30 minutes per game for the rest of this year as the Wizards take precautions to avoid overworking him.
When the team plays back-to-back contests, Beal said he might play a different role and see even fewer minutes.
Parsons back in form: Despite the Dallas Mavericks’ struggles lately — the team is 29-26 overall with seven losses in its last 11 games — forward Chandler Parsons has found his groove again.
While Parsons is only averaging 12.6 points per game this year after struggling earlier in the season, he is averaging nearly 19.2 points over his last 10 contests.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Parsons said he is as healthy as he has been all year and feels like he is playing the best basketball of his career.
Horford trade rumors: After spending his entire nine-year career in Atlanta, Hawks center Al Horford could be on the move, according to Kevin Arnovitz and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
Horford is rumored to be a trade target of the Boston Celtics, who are very interested in the 6-foot-10 former all-star, according to multiple reports.
The center is averaging just over 15 points a game this season as well as nearly 7 rebounds per game — numbers on par or slightly below what he averaged during the past few years.
Horford is in the last year of his current contract and will become a free agent at the end of the season.
Contact Graham Hack at ghack@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @graham_hack24.
Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan, left, chats with Russell Westbrook in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016, in Minneapolis. The Thunder won 126-123. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
