vs. 
Boston Celtics (15-4, 8-1 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (10-8, 5-4 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 753)
Stream: Click Here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 105.9 (19th), Celtics – 109.0 (11th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 102.7 (5th), Celtics – 99.1 (2nd)
Pace: Thunder – 91.9 (19th), Celtics – 91.1 (25th)
View from the enemy: Celtics Hub
Color me excited for this one. Not necessarily because I see this as another chance at a large statement to the league. Not necessarily because I have real expectations of winning. Not because of anything really. It’s just that any time the Celtics come to town, it’s neat. The three previous things add to the excitement for sure, but just the fact that Boston is in Oklahoma City gets me psyched. Their tradition, their uniforms, their big name stars. It’s all very exciting.
The Celtics come in after a tough 90-83 win in San Antonio last night which was the C’s sixth straight win. Ray Allen played 40 minutes, Kevin Garnett 35, Paul Pierce 37 and Rajon Rondo 36. Boston had to work for its win and that’s good news for Thunder fans. There is potential that the older legs of the Celtics could be a little noodlely this evening. As pointed out by an astute reader, while Bostin is 8-1 on the road this year, its one loss was to the Indiana Pacers on the tail of a back-to-back. And last night in their win they faded near the end scoring only 16 points in the final frame. Hmm….
OKC should be rested and ready, though Etan Thomas will likely be starting in place of Nenad Krstic who is questionable for tonight. That’s a bigger loss than you might think because Krstic spreads the floor and provides Russell Westbrook a perfect bailout option.
THE MATCHUPS
Two key head-to-heads I think: Garnett versus Green and Durant versus Pierce. First KG and JG: Obviously Garnett has the upper hand here. He’s still one of the true elite players and Uncle Jeff typically has some issues with guys that score inside and out. Garnett is a beast and he’s going to get after Green on the defensive end too. I wouldn’t expect much from Uncle Jeff, just that hopefully he can keep his head above water, rebound a little and limit Garnett offensively.
Paul Pierce is one of the top defenders in the league, mainly because he never quits. Every possession is a personal battle to him. He’s smaller than KD, but he’ll probably use Artest tactics and try and get inside and under Durant. Which of course could open the door for a couple “rip moves” from KD. I’m honestly not too tremendously worried about Pierce offensively. Durant is such a better defender now and really understands how to use his length. He can give a player some room because he can make up ground with his go-go-gadget arms. And we all know how Pierce loves that step-back elbow jumper.
Rondo and Westbrook are similar players in that they defend, they are lightning quick and they don’t shoot all that well. Kind of a push if you ask me. And of course I love Thabo on Ray Allen. I’ve said it before, but most times Thabo tortures jumpshooting two-guards. And nobody is more that than Ray Allen. Thabo will always have a hand in his face and will always challenge shots. Thing is, Allen is so amazing that he’ll knock down jumpers with a pile of dead bodies stacked eye level. He’s just lights out.
The Celtic bench is far deeper than the Thunder with Rasheed Wallace, Marquis Daniels and Eddie House providing instant offense off the pine. I suspect this will be a game OKC relies on James Harden a bit to provide some secondary scoring a spark to hang with Boston when Durant and Green need to sit. If OKC didn’t have Nick Collison tonight I’d say no chance, but Nick’s return has me feeling a little better about the Thunder’s second unit. I am a little worried the potential for a fight with Kendrick Perkins and Etan Thomas squaring off.
Mrs. Daily Thunder is taking a big chance and is willing to put her perfect record on the line tonight. She doesn’t want to everyone to think she hand picks easy games to just win. She’s no Mack Brown here people. The Ford Center should be a-rockin’ tonight. Hope you’re ready for some defense.
Tip at 7:00 CST. Go D.
@Anonymous
hahah that made me laugh...
The recap is up guys. Thanks!
Mike Wilks SUCKS!!! That's it goodnite.
Westbrook has a ways to go, there is no disputing that. He just pushes to hard in games like this. In the games that we win, he looks great most of the time. Games like the 76ers he had 15 asst. and only 2 turnovers.
@Anonymous
LOL
I know, thats why I said it like that. lol
@justin
Oh yea, well Westbrook has twice as many makes from the free throw line and is way ahead on rebounds.
@Warren
They aren't even at all, man. Rondo has 15 points on 11 shot attempts, Russ has 15 on 16 shot attempts. Rondo is 33% more efficient scoring the ball. He has 6 assists to 1 turnover, Russ has 4 assists to 5 turnovers.
Russ is being dominated by a much more heady, patient player. This says nothing about defense, either.
@Anonymous
yawn
I think Krstic is missed more than any of the Krstic haters think.
@Anonymous
Other than the turnovers Rondo and Westbrook are pretty even.
@justin
I have issues with Westbrook too, but he gets out of control in games that we fall way behind in. It just so happens that those are the games that Green is a no show. You get what I mean?
@Warren
LOL, I have my problems with Jeff Green too.. you're preaching to the choir there buddy.
My point is I will take a player who will try to step up, over a player who doesn't. Green is a great 6th man, but when he starts getting beat-up on he tends to back off.
Oh, your right. My bad. They have the same. Same difference. lol
@Warren
Um.. no he isn't?
Westbrook is out rebounding our pf. I think that is the point.
The Celtics have only missed 21 shots on the night, I don't feel like researching what percentage of those misses Jeff Green was around for, but that's not a lot of opportunities for rebounds.
@Anonymous
I agree.
Garnett has 21 points.
Rondo has 8 points.
@justin
Jeff Green was also 0-4 from 3.
@grant phillips
Jeff Green is 3-7 from the field, Russ is 5-14. KD was the reason we were in the game.
@Dan
well i have watched every game... he has a lot of bball IQ... if you want to talk bad about someone talk about how jeff green refuses to make any shot tonight. westbrook and durant were the only reasons we were in the game..
@grant phillips
grant phillips, I do not know how long you have watched NBA basketball but the goal is not to be 'over .500'. Lots of PG's can lead a team to 'over .500', Russell Westbrook is supposed to be a core player that will lead this team to deep playoff runs in the (hopefully) near future. This will not happen if he continues to play basketball the way he does; his brand of basketball will be picked apart by good teams in the playoffs and the longer he continues to play this way the harder the habits will be to break.
He is a very talented athlete and basketball player but this team needs him to become a PG. He does a lot of things well not really related to his PG duties (scoring efficiency overall, rebounding), but those things won't lead to playoff runs.
@justin
So what you are saying is that we were down bigtime BEFORE he cut the lead down? Hmmm, sounds like you just proved my point, but what ever you say boss.
grant phillips :@Dan
ya your right he has no bball IQ… he is leading a over 500 team in the western conference and could very well be the second best player on the team, but yet he has no basketball IQ… get out of here… seriously… get out
He is athletic and creates match up problems, but his BBall IQ is probably the worst on the team. Never said he was a bad player, he just has no concept on how to run the team throughout the game. I have watched almost every Thunder game this year...
@Warren
This is patently false. In this game alone we had the lead cut down to 6-8 points (thanks to Westbrook) and he proceeded to take ill advised shots and turned the ball over twice to end the half, also picking up his third foul in the process. Boston was uneven on offense during that time and we could possibly have cut the deficit further.
Further, do we really want a guy who shoots 40% from the field and who turns the ball over almost 1 out of 5 possessions 'pushing the issue'? He makes some nice plays when he does, but it's simply a question of math. It's going to average out at the end, and RW is far from our most efficient option on the court. We'd be much better served getting the ball to others in those situations most of the time.
@Dan
ya your right he has no bball IQ... he is leading a over 500 team in the western conference and could very well be the second best player on the team, but yet he has no basketball IQ... get out of here... seriously... get out
The only time Westbrook makes "bad decisions" is when we are losing big time. He takes it upon himself to push the issue. I will take that over a guy who doesn't care enough to try.
For comparison, Rajon Rondo has only had five turnovers in an entire game NINE times in his last 100 regular season game.
Do you have a different opinion? Is five turnovers by your PG in the first half acceptable to you? Low % field goal attempts when your other star is shooting 80%+ from the field?
Russ has his good moments and he displayed some of them tonight but he can't control himself and make the right decision for the T-E-A-M consistently.
Westbrook has no BBall IQ or feel for the game. I just hope when he is matured and like 25 years old when we are competing for Championships that his BBall IQ is much better or he will cause me to kill myself.
Imagine this a Championship game 7 and Westbrook still is dumb as a box of rocks(on the basketball court)? gawd
@grant phillips
Yeah, Justin is pretty much a moron.
@Anonymous
Thanks troll. Is that the same mouth you use to give your mother oralpleasure?
Westbrook does better than I could, and I am going to guess that he does better than any of us... I am just sayin..
@justin
You= the most negative poster EVER
Yeah his seven points in a row excuses him from his countless defensive lapses, poor shot selection, and untimely turnovers. You drive the ball into the defense and shoot low % jumpers (for him) enough you'll score some points but you do more damage than anything with the TO's and missed shots.
To be fair, I think it was his to kill.
Russell Westbrook = Momentum Killer
It's Rip Hamilton's signature move..
What's it say that KD's signature move is intended to get him to the foul line. There is no way he scores with it. Just wants some free throws.
Russ is so frustrating to watch, I want to wring the guy's neck sometimes. Why's he trying to grab an offensive rebound against Kevin Garnett instead of getting back on defense?
Tonight NBA tv gives me the option of the OKC feed or the Boston feed. Gawd, the Boston announcers are beyond horrible. Tommy Heinsohln is a complete butt nugget. It's sad when Brian Davis/Grant Long are better than the C's crew.
Update: NICKY C is starting.
The main reason Russ isn't totally useless as a scorer is his DrawF%, which is at 13.3%. Having a DrawF in the teens as well as being an adept shooter from the line means he increases his otherwise poor scoring efficiency. This is illustrated by the fact that although Rondo's overall FG% and eFG% are much higher than RW's, their TS% (which takes FT shooting into account) are much closer.
Of course they are vastly different players otherwise; Rondo is generally a sound defender although he likes gambling a lot for steals. RW is inconsistent there. Rondo is also a much more efficient playmaker, though he only really became great at that last season. We can hope Russ makes a similar jump in his third year..
@Josh
Good point on free throw shooting. I didn't consider that. I also didn't consider the 3 point shooting a relevant comparison, since neither guard shoots the 3 a significant amount. But those Rondo 3's are bleak.
Jax Raging Bile Duct :Rondo is similar to Westbrook, but just better. There isn’t one aspect of the game where Russell is superior to Rondo. They’re even on shooting ability, and athleticism, but that’s about it.
Not to nitpick, but Russel is a MUCH better free throw shooter and gets to the line more than Rondo (43% this year, 62.6% career). I also suspect if we controlled for shot selection, Russel would prove to be a much better shooter in general. He is also a slighty credible threat to make an open 3, whereas Rondo, who has made only 2 of 13 attempts this year (28 in his career), is not.
@GAP
I'm just bitter about the "Eyebrows" pick. Hopefully our guys know which basket to shoot for.
@teddymcg
Hahahahahah! Come on i'm just pointing out the funny stuff, it's friday and i'm going to the game...dang!
Now that sounds like a good shirt idea. The inspector gadget KD shirt.
Not counting the basket he scored for the Celts, Blair had 18 points, 11 boards and a couple of blocks. Thankfully we got Byron instead.
@Chris
Coming soon. Next week we should have a bunch.