In the NBA's lockout-compressed regular season, there's no time to rest on your laurels.
So one day after one of the most incredible regular season games in franchise history, which featured Kevin Durant scoring 51 points, Russell Westbrook going for 40 and Serge Ibaka getting a triple-double in a thrilling OT victory over the Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City has to get back to work Monday night, when they host the New Orleans Hornets.
While New Orleans, at 7-23, has one of the worst records in the NBA, they've been on a slight tear recently, winning three in a row, including giving the New York Knicks the first loss of the Jeremy Lin era on Friday night.
After giving Chris Kaman a few weeks off to try and engineer a trade for the veteran center, the Hornets brought him back and now feature a respectable starting line-up with four proven NBA contributors: Kaman, PF Carl Landry, SF Trevor Ariza and SG Marco Belinelli.
They're not going to be contending for a playoff berth, but they have enough talent to take advantage of teams overlooking them, which could be an issue for the Thunder tonight, as they have another nationally televised game Wednesday against the Boston Celtics.
For more on the Thunder, head over to Welcome To Loud City while At The Hive has you covered for everything you need to know about the Hornets.