Remember when Dwight Howard notched his first career triple double against the Thunder? Well, it's round two tonight, and I wouldn't expect muc less from Superman himself. Not to mention it appears that Jameer Nelson will return from injury tonight. Why wouldn't you want to make your comeback against the Thunder, it's almost a garunteed 10 points. With that in mind, it's hard to imagine anything but a Thunder loss. Actually, it's always hard to imagine anything but a Thunder loss. Can they prove me wrong??? Nope. Let's get on with this pregame.

Backstory: With his new lineup, I think that Scott Brooks had finally got the team playing to it's potential. Understand that this doesn't mean we're going to win any more games then usual. It does mean we weill see some higher quality games than we're used to. However, we'll still get our share of blowouts, especially against teams with any sort of decent inside game. What about tonight? Will the Magic try to go small like Memphis? Well, they'd be fools to do that, especially considering that they have the best center in the NBA. It doesn't even matter if they do go small. They could play the 7 Dwarves from Disneyland and still be competitive.

Match-Ups:

Jameer Nelson vs. Russell Westbrook

Edge: Nelson

Expect a track meet in this match-up between the Thunder's fastest player and one of the fastest players in the league. Nelson is coming back from injury, but that shouldn't hamper him too much, though I could see him taking a step back due to Russ' good defense.

J.J. Reddick vs. Damien Wilkins

Edge: Wilkins

This is a lackluster match-up, with Reddick only starting because of an injured Pietrus. Wilkins gets a pretty strong edge though, J.J. really sucks.

Hedo Turkoglu vs Kevin Durant

Edge: Durant

This one was really close, because Hedo is so good himself, in a versatile kind of way, while Durant is the better scorer. But KD is the probable Thunder Wonder, while Hedo seemingly has no shot at Thunder Plunderer, with Dwight Howard in the game.

Rashard Lewis vs Jeff Green

Edge: Lewis

Finally, a good match-up for Green. I'm usually comparing apples and oranges at this point, but Rashard Lewis is out of position as well, though he is like 6'11". They're similar players, but Lewis has been doing it longer than Green, so I'll go with the vet.

Dwight Howard vs Chris Wilcox

Edge: Howard

As a Staples commercial might say, "That was easy."

Battle of the Benches

Edge: Thunder

The Magic have been hurt by injuries somewhat. Brooks isn't going into his bench as deep as P.J. did, but that may actually be a good thing, Swift needs to keep the pine warm, not the court.

Coaching and Intangibles

Edge: Magic

I'm beginning to wonder why we even have this category, the Thunder lose almost every single time. Could there be more intangibles going against this team, they're aweful (I hope I didn't just jinx anything).

Player to Watch: Damien Wilkins. J.J. is a great match-up for Damien to tkae advantage of. He should finally be able to take advantage of somebody, as J.J. doesn't do much outside of shooting, and he's not even a god at that anymore.

God of Thunder's Pick: Orlando 120 Oklahoma City 101

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