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Thought I would put up a game thread for tonight's game.
Will be a tough one, Rockets coming from a tough loss against Chicago last night and Battier is one of the best wing defenders in the league. When he played last years against us, we lost all 3 games to Houston. We only won one where he sat out.

Got to turn up the energy on the D, would be nice to hold a team below 100 points for a change.

Thanks!

Yao is out obviously, and Aaron Brooks is also injured and won't play.

They key is kill the run'n'gun of the Rockets!
Without Yao , they are runnin'!
Sef must put a hand in Martin's face !

Westbrook and Durant must take clean shots and Ibaka must focus on the boards !

easy win for OKC Durant 35+ Points


Kyle Lowry and Ish Smith cant guard Westbrook

SHOULD be a win, but COULD be a trap game.
With Yao and Aaron out, they are not that strong offensively, so we should really hold them below 100.

They have Scola, Martin, Battier, Lowry and B.Miller starting.
Im only scared of Scola. We'll see if Ibaka can hold his ground against a very finesse smart player like Scola. If he gets in foul trouble, we can still put Collison on him.

I think Ibaka should be fine holding Scola.

What will be interesting is seeing whether Kevin Martin gets Thabo in foul trouble. That could be interesting (specially if he does and Durant/Westbrook have to guard him - which puts them at risk of foul trouble too).

Maybe this is the night Durant both shoots really well and gets to the line.

Darnell Mayberry has confirmed that Jeff Green is out for tonight.

Sidenote: The Clippers are 1-10 and their only win came against us....

slick_watts wrote:Darnell Mayberry has confirmed that Jeff Green is out for tonight.

Good good.... Hope he stays out a month or two. I got no problems with Green, its just i want to see IBAKA play some PF. Hope Ibaka and Harden score some ball. And i hope Cole get some playing time.

Its been nice to have Collison back out there. These are the type of games we have to follow through with a full effort which i think they have a grasp on now.

Lets go Thunder!

I love the fact that Ibaka has a jumper!

Durant is 0-3 from three. He did the same thing against the Jazz, went 2-8.

Take away the 3s, Durant had a 5-7 shooting quarter. Take away the 2-8 in Utah, Durant has a 4-9 night instead of 6-17.

He needs to stop shooting the 3.

Love how the offense is playing but the defense has been pitiful.

slick_watts wrote:Love how the offense is playing but the defense has been pitiful.

Beats the nights when both are a problem

slick_watts wrote:Love how the offense is playing but the defense has been pitiful.

I don't know if I'd say pitiful. 59% allowed is bad, but they also turned it over 13 times and only had 2 offensive rebounds. 53 points in a half isn't too bad.

What a foul call...

Anyway, my thoughts on the half:

Positive: Offense moving the ball, offensive rebounding, Russ (until the very end of the half), production from the SG's (Thabo another good offensive game), taking care of the ball, forced some turnovers early.

Negative: Defense. Houston is slicing us up on screens. Off screens, screen and roll, anything involving a body hitting another body they are getting an open look. This has happened constantly all year and this would be a 20+ point game if we played any kind of defense resembling last season.

Houston is one of those teams that scored well against us last year too so I'm not too hung up over it, and we have a double digit lead anyway. But the defense has to get it together eventually. Watching KD jog through off ball screens, watching us over help on penetration and give up penetration so easily. It's tough to watch after last year when our defensive effort was so good.

Krodis wrote:

slick_watts wrote:Love how the offense is playing but the defense has been pitiful.

I don't know if I'd say pitiful. 59% allowed is bad, but they also turned it over 13 times and only had 2 offensive rebounds. 53 points in a half isn't too bad.

The turnovers were nice and we controlled the boards but we're still getting beat on the same stuff, and the energy isn't where it should be.

Russ is playing like he's got a rocket up his ***. Mostly been good, but it's bad for my heart.

I really wish we could put a game in Hardens hands for a night to see just what he might be able to do. I don't like our chances in Boston so why not fri? lol