Kings vs. Thunder: Pregame Primer
vs. 
Sacramento Kings (20-39, 5-25 road) vs. Ok. City Thunder (35-23, 18-11 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 – 106.4 (16th), Kings – 105.6 (20th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 102.7 (3rd), Kings – 110.3 (27th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.8 (14th), Kings – 94.6 (6th)
View from the enemy: Cowbell Kingdom
We don’t pile into the Ford Center so much anymore to catch a glimpse of a star, but more to see our Thunder in action. And I definitely prefer it that way. But there are certainly some can’t miss guys still. LeBron. Kobe. Wade. Dwight Howard. And while Tyreke Evans isn’t a superstar (yet) in the mold of LeBron or Kobe, he is absolutely a player you need to admire live. His speed, his size, his ability – everything about his game is fairly breathtaking in person. Seeing Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green is plenty to get me to pay the price of admission, but Tyreke Evans is certainly added incentive.
Enough about Reke though. This is the tail end of Oklahoma City’s three-game homestand. Anything less than 3-0 was to be considered disappointment, and the Thunder took care of business, and I mean took care of business, in the first two games. And in comes an improved, but still very beatable Sacramento squad.
Sacramento coming in: This isn’t the same team the Thunder saw twice before this season. No more Kevin Martin. Enter Carl Landry, a player that has given OKC problems. The Kings have won two straight after dropping their last 18 of 23. Both of those wins came at home where Sacto has won 75 percent of its games. The Kings are just 5-25 away from home.
THE MATCHUPS
In the first two matchups, the Russell Westbrook-Tyreke Evans head-to-head has been split. Westbrook got the best of Evans in the first, going for 14 points and 13 assists to Evans 10 points and two assists. The next meeting the Kings won by three and Westbrook had just nine points on 3-13 shooting while Evans had 20 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. So if there’s a matchup to watch tonight, it’s this one. It should be a bunch of fun.
However, I would bet Thabo sees a good amount of time on Evans and Westbrook to roll over and cover Francisco Garcia (who comes off the bench). Last game out, Beno Udrih played 37 minutes for Sacto, meaning that Evans moved over to the two, so there will be a lot of mishing and mashing on the matchups tonight.
The Kings really don’t have anyone to cover Kevin Durant though. Omri Casspi will likely start the game on KD, with ultra-athletic Donte Greene seeing a little time as well as Garcia. But this could be a big night for Durant.
The addition of Carl Landry inside certainly helps the Kings, but OKC still should hold an advantage, especially with Jason Thompson still out with a back injury. Spencer Hawes played well for Sacramento last time out, but the Kings bench consists of Sean May and Joey Dorsey on the front line, which isn’t very good. Nenad Krstic is a little banged up but will play, so add him, Nick Collison, Jeff Green and Serge Ibaka and the Thunder should have a big leg up inside.
The only thing that could stop the Thunder tonight besides a monstrous performance from Evans is to lose focus and look ahead to the big showdown with the Nuggets tomorrow night. And that’s definitely a real possibility. But if all goes to plan, the Thunder should be riding another three-game streak when they take the floor at the Pepsi Center tomorrow night.
Tip at 7:00 CST. Go Focus.
Yeah, I don’t think KD was great in the second half. Even at not great, he’s still a beast. But comparing to his lofty standards, he got inefficient. The overall efficiency of his game today was help by his 22 in the first half on something like 9 shots, which is crazy. It seemed like he had a few more forced shots in the 2nd half.
And before the DON says anything, obviously I still think he killed it today. 39 and 10 is ridiculous. The one shot I really had a problem with was the staredown swing through contested 3. Seemed like he was searching for a backbreaker instead of attacking. Mild complaint though.
Seriously, everyone will miss shots here and there. You are just being spoiled. KD has been carrying the team for most of the nights, I would say probably about 80-90% of the games. And now there is/are players that can chip in so he doesn’t carry that much load lately, except tonight.
Also, if you saw what their offense was when KD was on the bench and compare to the time when he’s on the floor then you shouldn’t be disappointed at all. He was out there getting points or being the decoy so his teammates could score. That show us that how good KD is, especially he’s only 21…
Many of the shots he took he can make.. but you have to look for more efficient offense sometimes. KD is lights out finishing at the rim, and Russ was a wizard with the ball today. I would have liked to see more going to the basket in the second half.
Anyway the defense in this one is more concerning than the offense.. we still shot over 50% and got to the line a ton.
I think Russell is starting to make a very strong case for MIP award.
I think he will pry have to raise his shooting % to around 45% by the end of the season to have a shot..
@555
I’m well aware of the fact that everyone misses shots. I also think I said that I am used to his outrageous play that it is noticeable when he plays at a level below that. I don’t think there is any need for you to get defensive call me spoiled and such. I’m well aware of that and really wasn’t insulting him at all. I said it was a super weird thing that I don’t understand at all. Chill.
I haven’t heard any ‘we shoudld have drafted Ricky Rubio’ talk lately.
Russ’ A:TO now 2.58:1.
I am sorry if my comment offensed you…
I actually had the same feeling as seeing him did all those good things but still thought he wasn’t doing much, which I post the same kind of comment before. It must be my words were not put together right. Sorry…
What I said, “You are spoiled” which included myself too, was all the Thunder fans included myself that saw KD’s team was almost at the bottom of the conference in his first 2 years and now being the 6th seed in the Western and 2nd in pts in the NBA at the age 21 and 3rd yr in NBA. There is a superstar in our favorite team, either by location (most of you guys because you’re from OKC or surrounding area) or because of the player (which is me and others),to do all those works every game, and that’s what I meant being spoiled. If I offensed anyone, then I am sorry…
I understand. Sorry just a miscommunication man. It’s all good if the Thunder win right?
Seiously, I haven’t really watch any Europe game so I don’t really know what the fuss about Rubio… I mean, I had watched him play for Spain in Olympic and that’s all (he’s flashy but that’s all my thoughts about his game)…
Well, yeah… Of course, but I like it better if they win the game with better effort… Ha, ha…
Rubio made the right decision to stay in europe for a few more years. By one simple efficiency rating system he ranks 51st in the Euroleague. He passes well, supposedly defends well and can hit their shorter 3 pointer about average but he is shooting 35% FG% from everywhere else- mid-range to inside.
When he shot poorly in the Olympics they said he was off but he is still off.
Rubio’s gonna have to run an offense like J Kidd to be effective in the NBA.. he even has the same kind of slow set shot release on his jumper.
An offense with good shooters / scorers around him. Preferably vets who know where to go, when to look and when to shoot. Minny is far from that. He probably eventually gets dealt.