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Oklahoma City Thunder
at
Houston Rockets
Preview
The History
Both of these teams have undergone huge makeovers since the last time they played. For the Rockets in addition to the roster makeover they have a couple of key injuries, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. Of the nine players the received minutes the first time these teams met last year 5 are no longer on the roster, including Johan Petro and Earl Watson both of whom started the game.
The Matchups
Aaron Brooks v Russell Westbrook
Aaron Brooks is beyond fast, if you blink you miss him. This should be a good test for Westbrook as Brooks is one of the first options on offense for the Rockets. Westbrook is coming off a rough couple of games, after a good start in the first two games Westbrook has been forcing things resulting in turnovers. Most of his turnovers have come as a result of trying to get the ball down low to Krstic, which might be easier tonight since Krstic will be guarded by the undersized Chuck Hayes. As long as Westbrook focuses on not turning the ball over and takes good shots he may not win the individual battle but his will probably win the war.
Edge
Trevor Ariza v Thabo Sefolosha
Ariza has come on as a scorer since being shipped to Houston, he is leading the Rockets with twenty points a game. Thabo has been drawing the tough assignments lately; Kobe, Roy, Gordon, and Martin. After that murders row Ariza might seem like a little bit of a letdown but if Thabo can shut down Ariza it would go a long way to securing the win. On offense Thabo has been shooting much better and I really am interested to see what could happen if he starts to get more opportunities. Even if Thabo doesn't get many shots this game just the defense he plays on Ariza should make a big difference in this game.
Edge
Shane Battier v Kevin Durant
Against the Lakers KD did not score after the third quarter. Part of that was the defense of Ron Artest but I cant help but feel KD is still pressing. He is still trying to do too much, trying to will the ball into the basket instead of just knowing it is going in. Tonight's matchup probably won't help as Battier is no slouch in the defense department. On a balanced scoring team Battier is averaging 10 points a game, hopefully KD can cut into that and continue the defensive improvement he has started this season.
Edge Push
Luis Scola v Jeff Green
Last season the knock was Green couldn't defend the big power forwards, so far this season he has done a good job against the likes of Thompson, Villaneuva, and Odom. Tonight against Scola another tough matchup but Green should come out on top. Green has the athletic ability to exploit Scola on offense and should be a miss match the Thunder use throughout the night.
Edge
Chuck Hayes v Nenad Krstic
If Nenad was hitting his shot this would be a huge advantage to the Thunder, since he is struggling of late I hesitate to give him the advantage. Hayes is a lot like Collison, an undersized center that makes his money playing defense against guys much bigger and taller so Krstic should have some idea of what he is in for. If Krstic can carry over some of the confidence from the early second half against the Lakers and get his shot to fall the Thunder should win, if not and Westbrook starts forcing the ball to him it could be a long night.
Edge Push
Bench v Bench
Landry is averaging 13, Budinger another 9, and Lowry 8 all off the bench but while points off the bench is nice they lack a rebounder. Landry, Budinger, and Lowry all provide points off the bench. Combined they are averaging 30 points a game. But on the whole the Rockets are not big rebounders nor do they have a real shot blocker the two things the Thunder has struggled with this year.
Thomas continues to look great defensively with a couple of blocks and another efficient low post game, he went 4-7 with 11 rebounds. Harden had another tough shooting night but continues to do a good job dishing out the assists. Even Kevin Ollie dished out 4 assists and went 2-6, while I am not big on Ollie shooting ever, much less 6 times, he had no turnovers so he is taking care of the ball.
Edge
The Prediction
On the road after a tough home loss to the defending champs I called this a win before the season started but the Rockets have really been playing better than I thought they would. Of course the Thunder have also been playing much better than I thought, even with Durant struggling, particularly on the defensive end. Can Thabo lockup Ariza? Sure. Can Krstic exploit Hayes? Probably. Can KD find his shot again? How can he not? Since I am a big homer I have to pick the Thunder, so Thunder 88-84.
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