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Oklahoma City Thunder
vs
Portland Trailblazers
Preview
The Trailblazers views
http://www.beyondthebeat.net/
http://www.bustabucket.com/
The History
Last year OKC jumped out to a 1-0 series lead at home before Portland swept the last three games of the series. If the Thunder can take the first game from Portland again they will be off to a 3-0 start that only the most optimistic fan expected. Portland,meanwhile, is trying to stop a two game skid from turning into a three game losing streak.
The Matchups
Steve Blake v Russell Westbrook
It is hard to stop the quickness of Westbrook; I doubt either Blake or Miller has the ability to prevent Westbrook from getting into the lane. The key to the game will be what he does when he gets there. Greg Oden and LaMarcus Aldridge are likely to clog the lane and if Westbrook starts trying to force a shot up through the "trees" I doubt he will have much luck. On the other hand the perimeter shooters will need to knock down the open shots they get when the penetration forces the defense to collapse in order to win tonight.
Edge
Brandon Roy v Thabo Sefolosha
You aren't going to stop Roy from scoring 20 points tonight. The hope is he has to take 20 or so shots to get it. There will be times when Sef plays get defense the entire possession only to have Roy hit a falling away over the outstretched hand jumper that just makes you shake your head. On offense we are going to need Thabo to hit the open shots I imagine he will get a couple of open shots in the corner if he hits those and is able to pull the defense further out that will go a long way to securing a win.
Edge
Martell Webster v Kevin Durant
KD has had a couple of rough games. Not rough from the stat sheets point of view, I mean he is averaging a double double, but he just has not looked comfortable shooting the ball. He has made a dramatic improvement on defense and you know the offense will be there, when he gets it all clicking look out. Does he get it going tonight is the question. I think so, I saw him at the OSU Texas game last night and if the stomping Texas laid out doesn't get him fired up to do some damage I'd be surprised.
Edge
LaMarcus Aldridge v Jeff Green
LaMarcus Aldridge has struggled at times against the Thunder, in two of the four games last year he shot .400 or worse in the other two .580 or better, so who shows up tonight. This will be an interesting matchup; it will provide the Thunder fans with another chance to see Jeff Green against the type of PF that has caused him trouble in the past. This will be one of the key matchups to watch in my opinion to see how Green does against the larger PF's, I am on the yes side of the "Is Jeff Green the answer at the 4" question but I know a lot of people are still not sold. A solid effort tonight will go a long way to answering that very question.
Edge Push
Greg Oden v Nenad Krstic
No one has been a better surprise this year than the improvement from Krstic. While he only had five rebounds last game they were all the kind of monster rebounds in a crowd we seemed to be lacking last year. Tonight we should see a real test of his low post defense, I expect Portland to try and get the ball down low to Oden at least a couple of times.
Edge Push
Bench v Bench
Andre Miller was not happy at all with his role on the Trailblazers in the preseason; I wonder how he feels now that they are 1-2 on the year. Travis Outlaw is another scorer off the bench but he has struggled in each of their two losses thus far. Rudy Fernandez has been okay and like Outlaw provides some scoring pop off the bench he also plays better defense than Outlaw which is one of the reasons he has been absorbing the minutes. The biggest advantage the Trailblazers bench has is Joel Przybilla, like Oden another shot blocker off the bench that also can play down low.
Harden, Thomas, and Collison are coming off great games. Harden did not shoot well but was able to help set the table for the rest of the team; he had eight assists and looked pretty good running the point when Westbrook was on the bench. Thomas looked great defensively with a couple of blocks and a pretty efficient low post game he went 3-6 with 3 rebounds. Nick Collison came in with a lot of energy and really made an impact, he showcased a little midrange jumper that probably has other players rolling their eyes saying great now we get to defend that too, in 16 min he had 8 points 8 rebounds and 4 fouls. Cut down on the fouls and that's a great stat line for 16 min, heck even with the fouls that's a great stat line for 16 min.
Edge
The Prediction
Tough game to call, I like the Thunder's play in the first two games. They overcame some adversity in Detroit and won a game I think they would have lost last year, and thoroughly dominated a game that they may have let the Kings back in last year. So can they go up to Portland and beat a Portland team that is kinda down, kinda divided, and kinda probably overlooking them? I say yes. I am going to go with the Thunder to win tonight in a close game call it 95-94. I know Portland is at home, and Portland made the playoffs last year, and Portland is supposed to be the better team, and Portland is blah blah blah. I believe the improvements made by Westbrook on decision making, Krstic on well everything, and Durant on defense make the difference tonight.
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