Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

New Orleans Hornets

The Hornets came out and put the screws to the Thunder early. At one point the Hornets had a 10 point lead in the first quarter. It was all set up for another tough fight when the Thunder realized they were the better team. David West hit his shots, despite excellent defense for the most part by Jeff Green. West was hitting shots despite Green having a hand in his face, despite having to fall away to create space, and despite having to put up quick shots. While West was on fire the rest of the Hornets were less than mediocre. Thornton hit 4 of 13 for 11 points and added 5 rebounds. Collison went 3 of 14 for 8 and added 9 assists and only 2 turnovers. The Thunder on the other hand had KD and Westbrook both hitting shots along with Krstic and Ibaka. With the Hornets struggles and the Thunder playing well this one was really over about 2 minutes into the third quarter. The Thunder extended a 9 point half time lead to around 20 points in the third quarter and never looked back. The Hornets attempted to get back in the game but they never really threatened after the third.

Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

New Orleans Hornets

Preview

The view from the other side

http://www.hornets247.com/blog 

The story so far

The Hornets are slowly slipping out of playoff contention. The Thunder now have a 97.8% chance of making the playoffs according to Hollinger's playoff odds. The Thunder beat the Hornets in New Orleans last time out and look to extend the streak another game tonight at home. With CP3 still out the Hornets are missing one of their big guns but remain a dangerous team with a very good offense.

The Matchups

Darren Collison v Russell Westbrook

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. Westbrook had one of his better games against the Hornets in NO, he shot over 50% had 10 assists and 8 rebounds. Tonight the key for the Thunder will be how Westbrook handles Collison on the defensive side of the ball. If Westbrook can get another 4-12 and 5 turnovers out of Collison the Thunder will have an excellent chance to win.

Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

Denver Nuggets

Preview

The story so far

This is the matchup of the night, at least in my opinion. You have two stars going head to head, two teams battling for playoff position, and a possible changing of the guard at point guard. The Nuggets are in a slump having just gone 0 for 2 on the road, but now they are back home. The Thunder will need to play a good game and make very few mistakes if they want to pull out the win in Denver.  

The Matchups

Chauncey Billups v Russell Westbrook

Billups is the vet with the big game experience, Westbrook the up and coming sophomore, so who comes out on top. I would have said Billups before February, now with Westbrook coming off a month in which he averaged 18.8 points 10 assists and 6.5 rebounds I got to go with Westbrook. Westbrook is also averaging 30 points and 13 rebounds for the month of March, granted it's only one game but that's an impressive average.

Edge

Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

Sacramento Kings

Preview

The History

Sacramento seems like a long time ago now, but just under 2 weeks ago they served as the home opener for the Thunder. In a game that served to energize the Thunder fans and set a new benchmark for success the Thunder claimed victory over the Kings 102-89. This would be the first game Thabo Sefolosha would frustrate and limit an established scorer but it wouldn't be the last. This time around the Kings are in even worse position to get the win as Kevin Martin, who led the Kings with 27 points, will not be playing.

The Matchups

Tyreke Evans v Russell Westbrook

With Kevin Martin out of the picture the Kings are leaning heavily on Evans and other rookies for contributions. Evans has stepped up and currently has the rookie of the year award all but wrapped up. In the first game Westbrook did a good job of keeping Evans under wraps while Thabo spent most of his time on Martin. Westbrook has improved by leaps and bounds as the season has progressed. His shooting percentage is still low but he is taking mostly good shots after struggling with shot selection early in the season. He continues to be a triple double threat most any night, Westbrook has had double digit assists in 4 of the last 5.

Edge

Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

Toronto Raptors

Preview

The story so far

Toronto has a spot on the playoffs pretty close to wrapped up, They are in the 5 spot right now with a three game lead over 8^th. The Thunder got back on track with a win over Minnesota, after looking tired and worn down against the Suns and Spurs the Thunder looked much more rested against the Wolves. Tonight the Thunder face a surprisingly good Raptor team. Playing without Bosh didn't seem to hurt them against the Cavs whom they took to overtime so expect a game tonight.

The Matchups

Jarrett Jack v Russell Westbrook

Between Jack and Calderon the Raptors have two solid options at the point, and regardless of who starts expect to see both get some good playing time. Jack has been the better option lately and so he gets the starting nod tonight. Jack carries more of the offensive load while Calderon is more of a pass first point. Westbrook has taken on more of a scoring role as the season has gone on. He continues to struggle from the majority of the court shooting but has carved out two spots where he can consistently hit shots. The First is from the elbow on the right side, Westbrook is hitting 50% of his shots on that pull up jumper at the elbow. The second is at the rim he is slightly below 50% at the rim. The nice thing is these two shots complement each other, if the defense sags to prevent the drive he can pull up and hit the jumper if the defense tries to stick with him to prevent the jumper he can get to the rim.

Edge

Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

Minnesota Timberwolves

Quarter by Quarter observations

First Quarter

 The Thunder came out hot on offense. Each of the Thunder starters took at least 2 shots and only KD at 3-7 shot below 50%. Westbrook in particular is making up for his game against the Spurs he has 6 assists in the first quarter and has been finding a way to thread the ball to the guy with the best shot. The Thunder did an excellent job of making the Wolves pay for turning the ball over, they scored 7 points on 6 turnovers, the Wolves also forced 6 turnovers but only scored 1 point off them. Al Jefferson has been very quiet considering he is facing a much maligned Thunder front court. Jefferson is 0-2 with a single rebound.

Score to end the Quarter 30-19 Thunder