|
Oklahoma City Thunder
vs
New Orleans Hornets
Preview
The story so far
With the win last night the Thunder have climbed back into the playoffs. They currently sit in the eight seed 1 game up on New Orleans, Memphis, and Houston. Win tonight and they keep their place, lose and slide all the way back down as far as 11th again. It's still early but this game is a pivotal one, win and the Thunder still have a chance to take the season tiebreaker, if they lose the Hornets will have the season tiebreaker. .
The Matchups
Darren Collison v Russell Westbrook
No Chris Paul, hooray. This is the best chance the Thunder will have to beat the Hornets and break the curse of the previous team. Darren Collison is a nice player but he is not Chris Paul, without their leading scorer it will be up to Collison to run the offense and score. Collison only got 9 minutes in the previous game against the Thunder but he did go 2-2 with an assist and a turnover. Westbrook had half of a great game against the Hornets, he had 9 assists and only 2 turnovers to go with 4 rebounds and 3 steals. It was the other half of the game that he struggled going 5-16 for 11 points. With the speedy Paul out of the game it should be easier sledding tonight for Westbrook but that's not to say it will be easy.
Edge
Marcus Thornton v Thabo Sefolosha
Sefolosha has started to show a nice midrange jumper, with his ability to cut to the basket and make that shot it should really open the floor up for Westbrook to drive the lane. Thornton did not start against OKC last time they played but since has moved into the starting lineup. Thornton will be called upon to score early and often for the Hornets with Paul out. Thabo should be ready tonight after the lackluster performance against the Hawks. Thabo was getting torn up for 3 quarters and about 6 minutes of the Hawks game in the final 6 minutes he stayed step for step with Joe Johnson and was a big part of the Thunder win. Tonight hopefully he is awesome from the start.
Edge
Peja Stojakovic v Kevin Durant
Peja had a nice game against OKC he went 4-10 all shots from 3 point land. KD is now tied with Carmelo for the scoring lead he needs 33 points to take the lead outright. KD had a good game against the Hornets in OKC last time he went 7-15 for 27 points. Since being named an All-star KD has been on fire tonight he should be able to take advantage of Stojakovic's less than optimal defense to get easy baskets.
Edge
David West v Jeff Green
Green has put together a nice string of games to finish out January and start Febuary. Since the game against Cleveland he has averaged .517 from the field and got 7 rebounds. It's still too early to say he has broken out of his slump but it looks like Green has at least turned a corner. West had a good game against the Thunder tonight Green will need to be more aggressive in defending West and force him off his game since he will likely be expected to carry a heavier load with Paul on the sidelines.
Edge Push
Emeka Okafor v Nenad Krstic
Krstic was surprisingly good against Okafor in the first game between these two teams. He went 5-7 and grabbed 6 rebounds. Okafor however also had a good game going 7-10 and grabbing 8 rebounds. Krstic just had another good game against the Hawks hopefully he can carry some of that momentum into tonights game. Without Paul the Hornets may have some difficulty getting Okafor the ball in the same positions for easy buckets.
Edge
Bench v Bench
James Posey is the defender. Darius Songaila is a big power forward that can score. Julian Wright can rebound but doesn't have much range on his shot.
Collison got a little bit of his offense back he went 2-2 and looked pretty good down low against the Hawks. Ibaka was a beast against the Hawks he showed a nice midrange jumper, grabbed rebounds, and blocked shots. Harden struggled shooting but made up for it by getting to the line and making free throws. Maynor has had a couple of rough games as he tries to find where his shots fit into the flow of the offense.
Edge
The Prediction
Without CP3 I will be really disappointed if the Thunder lose this one. Being away from home probably helps in this case. The Thunder need a win over the Hornets both for the standings and the tiebreakers. Without CP3 the Thunder really should be the favorite tonight. Westbrook, Green, and Durant should be able to beat Collison, West, and Okafor.
Thunder win 103-95
|
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! 