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ANOTHER home game, against mo cheeks former team in the thunder. OKC have won the last 8 against the pistons. Westbrook has played the last 2 games after coming back sooner than expected from injury.

OKC starters: Westbrook/Sefalosha/Durant/Ibaka/Perkins

a few things to look for in this game:
1. can josh smith play good defense on durant after paul george beat him up last game. Smith being able to lock down star wings would be a huge sign of our ability to be hang with the top teams in the league, because the top 4 SF's are all on contending teams.
2. Who guards westbrook? this is the 1st high scoring PG we have faced this season, and i wonder if jennings has the ability to hang with him.. would be better if we started stuckey or pope and then had jennings on thabo and the 2G on Westbrook.
3. The rotation. Does gigi continue to be the backup 4? Did popes strong garbage time performance give him bynums spot in the rotation?


i honestly think that if westbrook and durant are held to atleast a reasonable amaount, our bigs should be able to DESTROY their frontline, and this could be a real statement game with a few extra eyes on it because of westbrooks return. i say this is a win - 104-96

i expect a close loss because of a monroe choke job in the 4th

dan2314 wrote:1. can josh smith play good defense on durant after paul george beat him up last game. Smith being able to lock down star wings would be a huge sign of our ability to be hang with the top teams in the league, because the top 4 SF's are all on contending teams.

I wouldn't count on Smith denting Durant's scoring punch too much. Not even a knock against Smith. But, he couldn't slow down George, we shouldn't expect him to slow Durant much either. But, not many, if any players can slow down KD.

Also, Westbrook is going to be a nightmare. He's going to get people in foul trouble, especially when guys play lazy defense and try to reach as he's attacking the basket.

But, Detroit should be able to overpower Perkins/Adams/Ibaka offensively. It's going to be our strength against theirs. I hope Detroit can take a hard fought win here. Also, I hope they unleash KCP on Westbrook, defensively. He's probably the only guy on the roster that has a reasonable ability to stay in front of him.

We need this win, let's get it done

Our frontcourt advantage should give us a chance to win, but we need to play shooters this game. We can't go another game with josh smith taking most of our 3's.

This one is gonna be ugly. U-G-L-Y!

Kilo wrote:This one is gonna be ugly. U-G-L-Y!

Agreed. See us losing by double figures....

I think we match up excellent with this team, in the sense that if our guys had gelled, and we were rolling, they wouldn't be able to stop us.

If the Pistons play their game, and commit even a reasonable amount of turnovers, we win, and its by 8+

The Moose wrote:We need this win, let's get it done

Yeah, it's pretty much a must-win situation. If we lose this, we need to blow it up and start riggin' for Wiggins.

ElectricMayhem wrote:

The Moose wrote:We need this win, let's get it done

Yeah, it's pretty much a must-win situation. If we lose this, we need to blow it up and start riggin' for Wiggins.

Way too much talent on this team for the number one pick.. Keep in mind we had 4 players in the preseason top 75 players

Timmaytime wrote:

ElectricMayhem wrote:

The Moose wrote:We need this win, let's get it done

Yeah, it's pretty much a must-win situation. If we lose this, we need to blow it up and start riggin' for Wiggins.

Way too much talent on this team for the number one pick.. Keep in mind we had 4 players in the preseason top 75 players

72-75?

rmfc wrote:

Timmaytime wrote:Way too much talent on this team for the number one pick.. Keep in mind we had 4 players in the preseason top 75 players

72-75?

Close.. Still. Too much talent to tank

ElectricMayhem wrote:

The Moose wrote:We need this win, let's get it done

Yeah, it's pretty much a must-win situation. If we lose this, we need to blow it up and start riggin' for Wiggins.

Again, I don't see how potentially losing to one of the top 4 teams in the NBA 5 games into the season would be reason to panic and abandon all hope. This team is still learning each other (not to mention the offensive scheme).

It's going to be a long season, with its fair share of surprise wins and disappointing losses. Everyone needs to take a breath and save these kind of declarations until after the all-star break.

You talk quite sensibly, joeposh. I had failed to view things from that perspective.

Cheeks knows all OKCs secrets so I GUARANSHEED a win

if Josh doesnt have more than 3 three point attempts

Stuckey has had quite a bit of success against Westbrook in the past but offensively I can't imagine how our backcourt is going to get buckets against their much bigger, longer and more athletic guys.

sc8581 wrote:Stuckey has had quite a bit of success against Westbrook in the past but offensively I can't imagine how our backcourt is going to get buckets against their much bigger, longer and more athletic guys.

Expect a lot of missed 3's. A LOT.

joeposh wrote:

ElectricMayhem wrote:

The Moose wrote:We need this win, let's get it done

Yeah, it's pretty much a must-win situation. If we lose this, we need to blow it up and start riggin' for Wiggins.

Again, I don't see how potentially losing to one of the top 4 teams in the NBA 5 games into the season would be reason to panic and abandon all hope. This team is still learning each other (not to mention the offensive scheme).

It's going to be a long season, with its fair share of surprise wins and disappointing losses. Everyone needs to take a breath and save these kind of declarations until after the all-star break.

Does EM really need to use green font on that one?? C'mon now..

We could get the win if we take care of the ball, give moose more shots and cut down on long range attempts from questionable shooters (smith, stuckey and sometimes jennings)
If the boys gets those things right and stay focused on d (i'm looking at you smoove) then we have a very good chance of winning.
Should be a fun one.

dVs33 wrote:We could get the win if we take care of the ball, give moose more shots and cut down on long range attempts from questionable shooters (smith, stuckey and sometimes jennings)
If the boys gets those things right and stay focused on d (i'm looking at you smoove) then we have a very good chance of winning.
Should be a fun one.

I don't think it's a good idea to give Monroe more shots unless he's drawing fouls, when he takes a lot of shots it's usually because he's forcing things so he's inefficient and turning the ball over, he's at his best when he's getting to the line 8+ times a game.