Portland Trailblazers @ Oklahoma City Thunder 11/01/09

[slick_watts]

Russell Westbrook / Thabo Sefolosha / Kevin Durant / Jeff Green / Nenad Krstic

VS.




Steve Blake / Brandon Roy / Martell Webster / LaMarcus Aldridge / Greg Oden

Matchup

Undefeated OKC will try to stay that way, hosting the Portland Trailblazers who have split their first two games and who will be on the second game of a back-to-back.

The front court matchups will be very important as LaMarcus Aldridge was effective against OKC last year. Greg Oden and Nenad Krstic will probably give each other fits, Krstic has a size and strength disadvantage inside while Oden's inexperience might be taken advantage of in the pick and pop game that's been so succesful with Krstic.

The 'shell' defense will definitely be tested in this game since Portland has good ball handling in the backcourt, front court players that can finish inside, and some three point shooting. Portland's shot the ball very poorly the first couple games, so hopefully the defense can keep them out of rhythm.

Some Numbers

One surprising statistic so far for OKC has been their pace factor. Last year, OKC was a fast paced team that ran quick sets and a lot of one on one basketball. Through the first two games this year OKC is 23rd in pace, underscoring the sentiment that Scott Brooks has these guys playing under control.

Portland is shooting under 40% through their first two games, uncharacteristic of a team that was one of the league leaders at 46.5% last season.

A Question

Kevin Durant only has one turnover in the first two games. Can he keep up this pace?

[dre_1614]

Not expecting a win, but hopefully we can stay competitive throughout the game. I like what we have done so far, but this will be our first real test to see where we stand.

[KidDelicious]

yeah i hope the fact that portland just played a back to back will play a role in hopefully getting us a W, but i think portland is gonna come in pissed that they lost to Houston. that might not help us.

P.S.. Roy dropped 40+ today., i doubt he can do that kind of effort twice in a row

[wiff]

If the Thunder manage a win on Sunday then there is reason to think the Thunder have a legit shot at the 8th seed.

[wizkid27]

If the Thunder manage a win on Sunday then there is reason to think the Thunder have a legit shot at the 8th seed.

I agree with that, however disagree with the likelihood.

In anycase, Slick, love the game thread! Hopefully it'll give us some good momentum heading into our first big showdown of the year

[slick_watts]

LaMarcus Aldridge also had a great game last night.

[Julio]

Yeah, LMA and Roy were great against the Rockets.
But Oden still have a lot of work to do on the offensive end, altough he's pretty good on D.
Outlaw and Webster were useless.I don't like their bench too much with the exception of Rudy. Andre Miller took advantadge of Brooks and Lowy in the post, but he seems to full of himself (took a shoot 2 mn from the end of the game that IMO wasn't for him to take).
I think the Thunder can take them.

Only thing I'm effraid is Roy and LMA coming with a revenge.

[jeffhardyfan52]

well i would think portland is now the underdog comeing in to this game since our D has sucked

[slick_watts]

Portland's got a load more talent, talk about fickle fans

[slick_watts]

Horrible start by Westbrook.

[slick_watts]

Kevin Durant is taking some stupid, tough shots. He's a black hole out there right now.

[slick_watts]

Terrible quarter. Four turnovers and zero assists, no ball movement. Really ugly.

[slick_watts]

It's amazing this is only a three point game. The offense has just been give it to Kevin Durant and hope he makes a shot. On this last possession Ollie dumps the ball to Collison behind the THREE POINT LINE with three seconds left on the shot clock. They've cut the lead to three but had an opportunity to do more with the way the Blazers bench is playing.

RW was horrible but they should put him back in, the offense has a lot more continuity with him in the game.

[slick_watts]

Every possession Ollie is in at 'PG' he brings the ball up the court and dumps it off to Green or Durant and has nothing more to do with the offense.

[theokie]

Somehow were tied at 33 even though were shooting 38% from the field.

[dre_1614]

playing like crap, luckily for us the refs have it against Portland.

[slick_watts]

What a half. Basically, I thought everyone played poorly on offense except for Jeff Green and (maybe) James Harden, who hit a couple big shots to get us back into it but otherwise has also been bad. Kevin Durant has 11 points and 4 rebounds in the half but has really forced up some ugly shots, and really when he's gotten the ball he's shot it no question. Not a lot of passing with him on the floor, only three assists for the whole team in the first half. This is the Russell Westbrook we knew last year, five turnovers and one assist. Anything, though, is better than Kevin Ollie at PG who is 100% useless (missed a wide open layup at the buzzer that could have tied it going to half time).

As bad as OKC has been, Portland might have even played worse. This game should really be Portland's by a mile but they've missed some easy ones and made a ton of unforced turnovers.

The good news is that if OKC can come out in the second half the way they did against Detroit they have a shot at this game. I don't think Portland's going to keep making dumb mistakes.

Edit: ^ And yes, the refs have made some baffling calls against Portland the entire game.

[theokie]

Interesting +/- note

Westbrook -6
Thabo -6
Durant -4
Green -10
Krstic -12


Harden +5
Collison +9
Ollie +6
Thomas +4


Our bench is really keeping us in this one

[slick_watts]

I don't think our bench did it, I think Portland's bench has just been terrible.

LaMarcus Aldridge is out the rest of the game. This is a winnable game now, he was really killing us early in the game.

If nothing else, we're doing an excellent job on Brandon Roy..

[BlazersRizing]

lmao @ that no call on the Durant travel/double dribble. u cant be serious.