Oklahoma City Thunder

vs

San Antonio Spurs

Preview

The History

Are you for real? That question could apply to both teams tonight. Are the Thunder really a playoff team. Are the Spurs really going to challenge to be the two seed in the west. This season the Thunder have already beaten the Spurs once down in San Antonio, now if they can take care of business at home they will hold two wins over a formidable foe as well as solidifiying their playoff chances. With Utah, New Orleans, and Memphis all looking to get into the playoffs the Thunder sure could use some breathing room, a win tonight would add just a little more space between OKC and the dreaded 9^th seed. San Antonio will not go quietly into the night however. The good news is the Spurs are coming off the first game of a back to back. The better news is the Spurs opponent in that game was the Lakers. The bad news the Spurs have won 8 of their last ten. The worst news is the Spurs just demolished the Lakers in that first game of the back to back. Simply put the Spurs are one of the hottest teams in the NBA right now and they just demolished the defending champs.

The Matchups

Tony Parker v Russell Westbrook

In the first matchup this season Westbrook was spectacular, he beat Parker in just about every category. Westbrook had 19 points on 7-13 shooting, 5 rebounds, 11 assists, and 0 turnovers. Parker was not bad he had 17 points on 7-18 shooting, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 4 turnovers. Okay never mind Parker was in fact bad, 4 turnovers and poor shooting from one of the big three for the Spurs. Westbrook will need to dig another great performance out of his bag tonight for the Thunder to get the win. Based on past play you have to think Westbrook will be at least able to match Parker tonight at home.

Edge Push

Keith Bogans v Thabo Sefolosha

Bogans is not a big shooter, unless the Spurs get ahead. He fills much of the same role Sefolosha fills for the Thunder. Durant had 25 points in the first match but was 6-18 from the field how much of that was Bogans defense is hard to tell, one thing is for certain right now KD is on fire so another 6-18 night and Bogans should make an all defensive push. Sefolosha was a big part of the win over the Spurs back in November. First he erased Jefferson for the first three quarters, Jefferson finished 1-4, then in the fourth when Westbrook was having difficulty containing Parker Sefolosha stepped in and locked him down. The final spurs possession in the first game was actually a turnover forced by Sefolosha.

Edge

Richard Jefferson v Kevin Durant

Jefferson has really gotten better with the Spurs as the season has gone on, he understands the offense and defense better anyway. But he also will probably draw the Thabo treatment early in the game. Durant is just unfreakinstopable right now. I know that's not a word because my spell check flagged it, yes I use spell check you should be glad cause if I didn't you probably would not be able to read half the crap I put up. Durant alone gives the Thunder a chance to win every night right now. When you average over 2 points per shot and you take more than 12 shots a game that's unfreakinstopable. And right now Durant is doing presicely that. 27 on 15 followed by 40 on 18 followed by 30 on 14 unfreakinstopable. Okay I will now retire the word unfreakinstopable.

Edge

DeJuan Blair v Jeff Green

Blair has struggled to stay on the court in the last couple of games the Spurs have played, some of it has been foul trouble and some of it has been just poor matchups. Tonight against the Thunder the matchup is not bad. Green should be able to attack the basket and drive the lane, he won't because that's what I always say when he goes up against someone like Blair and he never seems to do it. From now on I propose this game plan for all Thunder games. First quarter Green tries to drive past the more traditional power forward, Second quarter Durant does what he does, Third Westbrook does what he does, Fourth Durant again. Now not all plays in each quarter would go to the player listed but about half should unless it just is not going to work for whatever reason. .

Edge Push

Tim Duncan v Nenad Krstic

The big fundamental posted 22 and 10 against OKC last game. That actually was kinda low considering the issues we had rebounding. Duncan does what he is going to do, tonight the one matchup I hope to see is Ibaka on Duncan. In the first matchup Ibaka was not yet in the Thunder rotation instead Etan Thomas and Nick Collison took their turns against him and Krstic played almost 32 minutes. Krstic was also the only player besides Durant to shot under 50% he was 5-11. Going through all these matchups and comparing them to the boxscores from the game I am actually getting a little scared for tonight. It almost seems like the Thunder had just about everything go right but only managed to win by 3, while the Spurs had poor nights from Parker, Ginobili, and Jefferson but managed to stay with the Thunder.

Edge

Bench v Bench

Manu Ginobili, George Hill, and Roger Mason are the main three guys the Spurs bring off the bench. They also have Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff which can play some minutes down low if they need to, and Michael Finley could return at anytime. In the first meeting Hill stepped up and really played well while Parker was struggling. Hill was able to zip around the court and get into the lane almost at will. Ginobili went 0-8 on the night but did have 7 free throws. He also had 6 assists and helped pick up the Spurs with his playmaking ability. Surprisingly Mason did not play much in the first game but I would not be surprised to see him tonight.

Ollie, Thomas, Collison, and Harden combined for 18 points on 10 shots with 7 rebounds. They only played a combined 53 minutes which left Durant playing 42, Sefolosha 41, Green 39, and Westbrook 35. Tonight I would expect Maynor, Ibaka, Collison, and Harden to provide more of a break than that. Maynor had a nice shooting night against the Knicks he was 4-6 for 9 points. Ibaka was a slight disappointment offensively he got several chances to post up in the fourth quarter but was unable to showcase any real moves. Collison was his usual efficient self 3-5 and 6 rebounds. And Harden went 3-9 as he continues to struggle to find his 3 point shot. 

Edge Push

The Prediction

It is tough to call this one. I think the Thunder can win, particularly with the improvements made to the bench and with KD lighting it up. But in the first game almost everything lined up for the Thunder and they only managed to escape with a three point victory. The Spurs are not going to be thinking about how the Thunder beat them last game. The Spurs have already put that loss far behind them. The Thunder will be hard pressed to hold Ginobili to another 0-8 outing and Westbrook getting 11 assists without a turnover these things do not happen every night. Unfortunately I think the Spurs are going to win this one, I hope I am wrong but I think they are a little better team on a little better streak.

Spurs win 95-93

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