vs. 
Heat (1-0) vs. Thunder (1-0)
TV: NBATV (Cox 256, 726 HD), Fox Sports Oklahoma (Cox 37, 722 HD)
Online Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:30 CT
It’s a shame this game doesn’t count. Otherwise, man, talk about hype. Durant vs. LeBron. Good guys vs. bad. Loud noise vs. warming sensation. It’s a dream matchup, really.
Other than the game being against the almighty Heat (who will be without Dwyane Wade), this is our first look at the 2010-11 Thunder. We’ll get to see them live and in action. We’ll get to see our good first look at Cole Aldrich, who is starting. We’ll get to see what kind of improvements James Harden, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green have made in training camp. And most importantly, you’ll get to see what Serge Ibaka looks like in a headband.
It’s preseason so there’s no importance to anything. There’s no urgency to win, to big thing to think about going into the game. But the fact is, our Thunder are playing an opponent in competition and that’s exciting. And it’s the new LeBron’s to boot. So that’s cool.
But two things I’ll be watching:
1. How much does OKC use Aldrich in the post? Is he actually going to be utilized, or on offense is he basically just going to be a garden gnome kind of lingering about? Aldrich is a really good screen-setter and could be decent in the pick-and-roll. Westbrook is used to his center picking and popping, but Aldrich doesn’t necessarily have that ability. So that’s something to watch.
2. KD vs. LeBron. I mean, come on. Yeah it doesn’t matter but this is a matchup of the top two talents in the league. They play the same position and they’ll be guarding each other. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Tip is at 7:30 CT. Go First Look.
