The Oklahoma City Thunder have seemingly started to figure things out after winning their sixth straight game with a solid 124-107 victory over the Toronto Raptors. There are plenty of factors that have attributed to their recent success, however, it is safe to say the reason behind it has been the stellar play of superstar point guard Russell Westbrook.

The reigning MVP has taken back his central role in the offense and the Thunder have been reaping the benefits. According to ESPN's Royce Young, even superstar forward Carmelo credited their play recently to Westbrook finally taking over the offense.

“I think the fact that Russ (Westbrook) is just playing, not trying to defer to anybody – to any one of us – just playing his game and letting us play off of him,” Anthony said. “And I think he's just much more effective by doing that rather than deferring to myself or Paul (George).”

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The Thunder have received scathing criticism as a result of their underwhelming performance this year. Although a transitioning period was to be expected with the addition of Carmelo Anthony and superstar forward Paul George over the offseason, Oklahoma City's prolonged struggles started to cause major concern.

It became apparent that Westbrook essentially took his foot off the gas by deferring to his new superstar teammates. Whether it was purely out of respect or necessity, the strategy was not working. Fortunately, Russell Westbrook has clearly gone back to his MVP-caliber self after averaging 28.4 points, 11.2 assists, and 8.4 rebounds over the last five games.