vs. 
OKC Thunder (8-2, 3-1 road) at Memphis Grizzlies (3-5, 2-1 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 109.2 (3rd), Grizzlies– 96.9 (28th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 105.5 (23rd), Grizzlies – 101.2 (13th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.0 (14th), Grizzlies – 93.4 (7th)
View from the enemy: 3 Shades of Blue
To Memphis, where things are always entertaining but never all that fun. Last time Oklahoma City visited, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had a knife fight on the bench, or something like that. Memphis isn’t living up to its preseason hype right now and is seriously wounded without Zach Randolph. Mike Conley, who was injured on the very first play last time, will be back and he’s always played well against OKC.
Memphis coming in: The Grizzlies have dropped two straight and last played Sunday.
Three Big Things
1. No Z-Bo. Zach Randolph is a definite Thunder killer but without him, it makes Memphis a lot more one dimensional and also makes Serge Ibaka more of a weapon. Marreese Speights was brought in to replace him and while he’s a high energy player and good rebounder, he’s not a guy Memphis can count on late in games to get key points.
2. Rudy Gay. A lot of pressure will be on Gay to carry Memphis tonight, so it’s key for KD to keep focused on his old buddy. The Grizzlies had the Thunder in trouble last time but Gay went cold down the stretch.
3. Turnovers. It’s how the Grizzlies tend to survive against the Thunder but last time, OKC controlled the giveaways well. And they won. Without Randolph, Memphis is going to rely on creating turnovers and hoping the Thunder have an off night. Otherwise, if the Thunder are focused and ready, they should handle things.
Tip at 7:00 CT. Go Chemistry.
I'd love to ask Presti if it ever crossed his mind that Jackson and Westbrook could play side-by-side. Russ plays so well off the ball, and if Reggie develops at PG, that would be an interesting combo.
@courtsense I think Reggie and Russ have quite a similar game. Obviously, Russ is a better slasher and Reggie seems to have the better deep ball, but I think it would be more effective to have Russ off the ball with a true PG, and prior to Maynor's injury they did it very sporadically.
So what do you guys think - are we just gonna have to resign ourselves to piss-poor execution as long as Brooks is coach?! If so, the question then becomes, how far can this team go on talent and depth alone.
@courtsense Larry Brown and Jerry Sloan want to be back
@shiki@courtsense Can you imagine Larry Brown with Westbrook? He'd either become a first ballot hall of famer or send Brown to his grave trying.
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@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing It baffles me how a coaching staff with a Hall Of Fame PG as Assistant, and a 10+ year PG as Head Coach cannot execute. Thank God our GM can find talent, and knows how to make decent deals.
@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing@courtsense If we stall out in the conference finals, i dont really think its that far fetched to think they wouldnt renew his contract after this year if theyre able to get someone better. Our roster is the most talented in the league, and not even close in the west. Anything less than a finals appearance (and a strong showing at that) is inexcusable with these guys.
@JimboSlice I don't think it's far fetched either.
KD' s FT% looks better than before in these 2 games
We could be 10-2 after tommorrow. Oh yea!
Thabo shooting like 60% from 3
hahahhaa Mullens had a 15-10 day not bad
Man, if Thabo can space the floor effectively that's like finding a hundred dollar bill in our pocket. Would be a very very welcome development.
@SammyThunderer THe Lockout helped Thabo and Perk to improve themself
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@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing The more we play at beginning,the less at end,it is not bad for a young team
@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing NBA scheduling is a really difficult and thankless task
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@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing Yeah, I definitely think it helps to get the crowded parts of schedule out of the way early. After tomorrow, our schedule is a breeze for a month or so
@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing The league hates us.
TRADE RUSS... SUre Wish we had Rubio
yall still wanna trade westbrook for rondo huh? smh
@Lost Ones Actually, I'd much prefer a Westbrook + Ibaka to Minny for Love + Rubio over a Rondo deal, but neither one is happening anytime soon...
@Lost Ones Ask me again the next time Rondo has 15 assists and Westbrook shoots 25 times...
@courtsense if westbrook played with 3 HOFs he would average 10 ast as well
@Lafowler255@courtsense exactly even durant is starting to come off the dribble
@Lost Ones@courtsense Sorry for typo "we dont have shooters..."
@Lost Ones@courtsense Yeah We Go have shooter we have scorers they make plays more then they spot up shoot
22+11+5 is great for KD if you dont check FG%
I really wanted Russ to break out with his passing game tonight, hoped for double digit assists. Russ scoring a bunch was to predictable tonight, especially after his last game vs the Grizz.
Good win nonetheless, even though Grizz are without ZBo.
@Air Bud Assists are a two-way street. Russ created a nice number of open jump shots that were missed. Conley had a bunch of assists tonight, but most came on long 2's, not at all better than the shots russ set up.
I understand that, and yes Russ played a very good game tonight. I think we need to accept the fact that assists are not necessarily Russ' game any more than they are KD's game. Every assist is a bonus for Russ or KD. The Thunder needs Russ to score just like the Heat need DWade to score. @Matt32
Russ and Thabo get the game ball today. How about Thabo? 4/4 and it looks like his d has improved.
Westbrook only credited with 4 assists, but I could have sworn that he had more than that. Maybe I'm just thinking of passes that resulted in foul shots? Either way he was moving the ball better than the 4 assists suggests, on top of playing an outstanding offensive game.
Russ was pretty great this game. Especially in the first half. If he didnt play as well as we did we're down at least 10 going into the half.
Good win. Last year we would have crumbled but we pulled it out this year. Good sign
Good win on the road at Memphis.
Missed the whole 2nd half except the final 3 minutes...can anyone give me a quick summary before I check the box score?
@courtsense Kind of an ugly win. Got buckets several different ways when we needed to down the stretch. Russ had a great game, James was a little quiet, KD made some nice crunch time passes.
W.
@nomad About sums it up nicely.
man perk can shoot free throws
Icing, by Perkins
Love Russ. They might make it a little too interesting but I love this team
On the bright side Starters won this game without our usual bench play.
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@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing I don't know that that unit has very much playtime? It looks good but I think I'd prefer Ibaka at C for the pick and pop game. Especially if they ran those double screens sets like Boston
@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing It's my favorite lineup. I want to see Russ and James play without Kevin though. Those two plus Nick, with maybe Daequan at teh other wing, has a lot of potential without having to solely worry about looking for Durant
That was beautiful by Russ!!
14 assists is not good enough... Terrible offense and yet, we still look like we'll win this.
looks like it's a wrap unless we miss FT's
Perk is open!
@JJJ too risky. Would you rather a risky, possible turnover pass, or KD shooting FTs?
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@deleted_1998213_Don'tStoptheSergeing He ball faked right at him. A good passer should get him the ball there