Oklahoma City Thunder @ San Antonio Spurs 11/14/09

[slick_watts]

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

@




Tony Parker / Michael Finley / Richard Jefferson / Tim Duncan / Antonio McDyess

Matchup

OKC Thunder will get another injury riddled team. Tony Parker and Tim Duncan both suffered ankle sprains and Gregg Popovich has stated that one should return tonight, but he would not say which. I'm not sure which one I'd prefer to be out; probably Tim Duncan.

The Spurs love shooting threes so the backcourt defense will be tested. Manu Ginobili, Michael Finley, Matt Bonner, Roger Mason, and Richard Jefferson are all capable from three point range. The Spurs have excellent interior presence with McDyess, Blair, and of course Tim Duncan.

The Thunder will have to execute offensively and keep the mistakes to a minimum. The Spurs are a good team at home and still beat Dallas without Parker or Duncan.

Some Numbers

San Antonio is attempting almost 23 three pointers a game; which is a lot. About 8.5 more than OKC shoots a game. Their percentage isn't as high as it was last year so hopefully it stays that way.

Both the Spurs and Thunder are half court teams that want to control the pace of the game. They are 26th and 25th in pace factor respectively.

Interestingly, the Spurs are 5th in the league in offensive rating but 25th in defensive rating. This is counter intuitive when you think of Spurs basketball, but perhaps it's a sign that things are changing in San Antonio.

A Question

Russell Westbrook has had two terrible games in a row; does he bounce back tonight?

[Julio]

VERY INTERESTING to see Russell go against Tony if Parker's back, which according to french newspapers is very possible.
Anyway, even if Parker doesn't come back, Westbrook will have a good matchup against Georges Hill, who should really become a good PG in this league.

Only saw the Spurs once this year, and that was against Chicago, they didn't play well.
Who do you think Thabo takes if Ginobili and RJ are playing at the same time?

If McDyess is on Green, can we please have him involved in the game? I love Dyce but he's getting old, Green should do some damage.

[wiff]

I have a fever for tonights game and there is only one cure.................. more Ibaka

[dre_1614]

IBlockya

[slick_watts]

Interesting 1st quarter.. another horrid start shooting the ball. Tied 25-25, but I think SA is going to pull away once KD takes a rest. RW lays a first quarter egg, we got real sloppy with the ball to end the quarter.

The bench is going to get killed..

[slick_watts]

RW comes back in and we almost immediately lose the lead.

[slick_watts]

Ugh he is so bad..

[dre_1614]

Westbrook **** sucks

[slick_watts]

SAS up ten. Nobody doing anything on offense, KD and Green can't do it themselves.

[slick_watts]

This is horrible.

[dre_1614]

Jeff Green is playing the same way vs the Lakers a week ago. Which is a good thing. Just wish he played with this effort and passion every game he'd be amazing....

[slick_watts]

The half is mercifully over, it's 53-46 Spurs. OKC is shooting a sparkling 39% from the floor. If not for a KD free throw love fest in the first quarter this would be double digits.

It's another cold shooting night which is bad news for a team that relies almost entirely on jump shots for the offense to work. KD, if not for some first quarter free throws, has been malignant offensively. Jeff Green has been effective. RW was ineffective for most of the first half and was mysteriously removed from the game after putting together a few nice possessions. Kevin Ollie then proceeded to yield a three point play to Tony Parker.

Another 'bleh' performance on offense. The defense was good for awhile but broke down as the Spurs got into the penalty with over five minutes left in the half.

[dre_1614]

Was the ball movement from the Orlando game a once in a lifetime thing? Why were they so unselfish that game but in pretty much every other game its a lot more 1v1 type ****?

[slick_watts]

Was the ball movement from the Orlando game a once in a lifetime thing? Why were they so unselfish that game but in pretty much every other game its a lot more 1v1 type ****?

In ORL everyone was hitting shots. Nobody's hitting the shots from the perimeter this game and with this team that's bad news.

Right now (nice run!) we have 8 assists to 19 field goals which is good. I imagine the Orlando game was similar. It's just that in the firs half nobody was hiting anything.

[slick_watts]

RW comes out like CP3 in the third, 14-4 run.

[dre_1614]

great period. Westbrook and Krstic were on fire. Need more of that in the 4th to win.

[slick_watts]

We outscore SAS 32-21 in the third and lead by 4 going into the fourth. RW with his best quarter of the season probably, we started making some shots so RW gets some assists.

I'd like to see the defense ratchet up a bit, it seemed like SA started getting some easy shots towards the end. If KD has a good fourth quarter we have a chance.

This team is usually bad in the fourth and against a team like the Spurs I'm not sure how well they'll do.

[slick_watts]

7 point lead with 9 min left. Bench is playing well, shooting 50% now somehow.

[slick_watts]

As bad as RW was in the first quarter and a half he now has 10 assists and 0 turnovers..

[slick_watts]

James Harden has a tough time staying in front of guys.