Thunder are back on track after early winter skid

The Oklahoma City Thunder were finding a new version of themselves early in the New Year, but it wasn't one they particularly liked. 

After a 124-97 home loss to the Charlotte Hornets, Oklahoma City found itself in the mix of a 6-6 stretch that had dropped it from a potentially record-setting pace of 24-1 to 30-7. 

The Thunder still sat atop the Western Division, but they didn't feel like the same indomitable force they had been over the first quarter of the season. 

However, a five-game winning streak has quelled some of the doubts that once swept across the Sooner State. 

OKC notched its fifth consecutive win on Thursday in a 111-91 road victory over the Houston Rockets. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 20 points and Chet Holmgren added 18 as OKC outscored the Rockets 34-16 to pull away in the fourth quarter.

The win came just two days after the Thunder finally got over the hump and beat the San Antonio Spurs in Oklahoma City after losing their first three contests against San Antonio this season. 

OKC is back on track 

Needless to say, Oklahoma City has found its swagger again. 

This five-game win streak has been far from perfect. It included an overtime win over a struggling Jazz squad and a one-point win over Memphis that saw OKC execute an impressive comeback with a skeleton crew available. 

But it has been exactly what the doctor ordered for a great team that finally looked beatable as the halfway mark neared — and sometimes all a great team needs to start wandering toward a cliff is a glimpse of its own morality. 

But the Thunder have began to walk themselves back from the edge and back to their throne as the best in the West, for now, at least.