|
Oklahoma City Thunder
vs
Washington Wizards
Preview
The History
Washington is coming off a great win over the Cavaliers at home. The Thunder are coming off a disappointing effort down in Orlando against the Magic. When you look at the firepower it's hard to see why this team is 3-7, but only 1 game so far this season has been against a team that did not go to the playoffs last season. Washington is 0-6 when they are held under 100, the Thunder 0-4 when opponents score over 100. To beat the Wizards the Thunder will need to control the pace, play good team defense, and get good shots.
The Matchups
Gilbert Arenas v Russell Westbrook
When Arenas plays this Wizards team is a much improved team. So far Arenas appears to be healthy after missing all but 2 games last season and 13 the season before. He is averaging 23 points and 6 assists right now despite the quality of competition faced. Westbrook struggled against Orlando going 3-11 with 3 assists and 2 turnovers. With the firepower the Wizards have on offense Westbrook will really be tested tonight on defense.
Edge
Mike Miller v Thabo Sefolosha
Who do you put Sefolosha on to take them out of the game? Mike Miller is playing with a nagging shoulder injury, but it doesn't appear to have affected his shooting. In each of the past two games Miller has gone 7-11 from the field for 20 points and 17 points each. Depending on who is hot Sefolosha may move around. Sefolosha has continued to struggle from the field shooting.
Edge Push
Caron Butler v Kevin Durant
KD had a bad game against Orlando so that means he should be ready to explode against the Wizards. So far on the year KD is shooting .213 from three and .441 from the field, not exactly what he had in mind I am sure when the season started. Tonight he gets a great opportunity to improve those numbers at home. The Wizards are not known for their defense, and Caron Butler is no defensive stopper like Orlando's Pietrus. The Thunder will need Durant to score and score often to keep up with Washington.
Edge
Antawn Jamison v Jeff Green
Jeff Green has been hurting the past couple of games; the hip he injured against the Clippers appears to have affected his shot. There is no word on holding him out of the game but it is obvious he is hurting and it is affecting his game. Maybe the time off since the Orlando game will give him a chance to heal up because the Thunder could use him in top form tonight. Antawn Jamison missed the first 9 games of the Wizards season but he returned with a vengeance against Cleveland, he went off for 31 points on 12-22 shooting and collected 10 rebounds.
Edge
Brendan Haywood v Nenad Krstic
Haywood had been providing consistent points down low for the Wizards however against Cleveland he took only one shot. The lack of shots is most likely due to the return of Antawn Jamison. Krstic has been very consistent until the most recent game against Orlando. If you throw out the Orlando game he had a streak of 6 games with 10 or more points. He also was shooting .524 over that stretch. Krstic's defense has been up and down this year so it will be a good thing if the Wizards turn more to Jamison and less to Haywood.
Edge push
Bench v Bench
Andray Blatche has been put back on the bench; he had been playing the majority of minutes at the four in the absence of Jamison. The previous two games he had posted double doubles. Randy Foye is fighting back from an ankle injury; he played only 4 minutes against Cleveland and missed the only shot he took. Fabricio Oberto the long time San Antonio Spur is now a Washington Wizard. That's about the only change for Oberto, not a big threat offensively and I doubt he will be able to give Krstic much trouble on the pick and pop.
Lots of extended playing time for the bench in the loss to Orlando, and pretty much everyone looked pretty good. Nick Collison had his first bad shooting night he went 1-5 in the loss. Serge Ibaka looked really good he had 7 rebounds before the game had truly been decided and then added two more and 6 points in garbage time. Ollie continues to play mistake free basketball he had four more assists and zero turnovers. Kyle Weaver impressed in the limited time he was in running the point, he went 4-6 and had 4 assists 2 steals and only 1 turnover. Harden broke out of his shooting slump going 7-14 and 6-7 from three.
Edge
The Prediction
Despite their record Washington is a very good team. If the Thunder walk into the Ford Center tonight and expect to win without giving maximum effort it will be a disappointing night. With a team full of scorers the Wizards can put points on the board and it will be important for the Thunder to control the pace of the game and play solid transition defense, something that has been lacking this year, or the Wizards will run early and often. The Thunder will need Durant to get good shots and knock them down, which he will. They will also need Westbrook to keep up with Gilbert Arenas while also providing an offensive spark. Krstic should be able to get going with Westbrook driving into the lane. If Green or Sefolosha can D-up on Jamison the Thunder should be able to come out on top.
Thunder win 95-85
|
Bloguin is the revolutionary blog network specifically focused on helping bloggers get the most out of their websites. We're currently working on building a large network of online communities and hope to expand our blogging coverage to include a wide range of topics. 
The Bloguin Network allows advertisers to promote their products and services to our ever-growing number of visitors. We offer both site-specific ad placements as well as the ability to run a network-wide campaign. If you're interested in working with Bloguin to meet your advertising needs, please contact us.
The Bloguin Network is always looking to expand. Here are some of our high-priority areas that we're specifically looking to grow. If you're a blogger and interested in joining our network, please fill out our application form.
The Bloguin Login gives you full access to everything our network has to offer. Your name and password will work for each and every one of our sites. Signing up is simple, and will allow you to post in all our forums, create member blogs, and access other cool features! What are you waiting for? Create an Account! 