Tag Archives: Wesley Matthews

Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trailblazers preview (Game 1 of 82)

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westbrook lillard thunder trailblazers

  • When: Wednesday, 29 October 2014 at 9:30 PM CST
  • Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR

If there was ever a time for the entire world to go into hibernation for, ohh, I don’t know, maybe 6 weeks, this would be the time. The Oklahoma City Thunder will be strolling into Portland on Wednesday to open the season with 9 healthy players. The Thunder usually have a 10-player rotation in the regular season. They have 9 capable bodies, currently. The injury bug has hit the Thunder hard this preseason with Kevin Durant and Mitch McGary each suffering a broken foot, Anthony Morrow suffering a sprained MCL, Grant Jerrett still recovering from offseason ankle surgery, and Reggie Jackson (ankle) and Jeremy Lamb (back) each suffering injuries in the practice before the road trip. The only saving grace is that none of the injuries appear to be too serious.

The Thunder and Portland Trailblazers split the season series last year 2-2. The Northwest division rivals played four close games, with all of them being decided in the fourth quarter and by single digits. The average margin of victory in each of the contests was 5.5 points.

The Opponent

trailblazers lopez matthews lillard aldridge

The Trailblazer start  their season at home with visions of improving upon the season they had last year. Portland finished 54-28, good for 5th in their West. They defeated the Houston Rockets in 6 games in the first round and lost to the eventual champs in the second round in 5 games. Their entire core is back, and they picked up some veteran free agents for the bench. The only player missing who logged significant minutes last season is Mo Williams, who signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the offseason. With such comfort and continuity, look for Portland to once again be one of the top offenses in the league. Damian Lillard and Wesley Matthews are one of the top two-way backcourts in the league. Lillard and power forward LaMarcus Aldridge are quickly becoming one of the best duos in the league. On the perimeter, small forward Nic Batum is their best defender and someone capable of knocking down open jumpers. In the middle, Robin Lopez does a great job of keeping possessions alive with his energy. The bench, which was a weakness last season, has been shored up by veteran free agents Steve Blake and Chris Kaman. CJ McCollum and Thomas Robinson will also play a big role off the bench.

Probable Starting Line-Ups

Portland Trailblazers

  • PG – Damian Lillard
  • SG – Wesley Matthews
  • SF – Nic Batum
  • PF – LaMarcus Aldridge
  • C – Robin Lopez

Oklahoma City Thunder

  • PG – Russell Westbrook
  • SG – Andre Roberson
  • SF – Perry Jones
  • PF – Serge Ibaka
  • C – Steven Adams

3 Keys to the Game

1. Foul Trouble – With only four warm bodies to come off the bench, the Thunder need to be very wary of their fouls. Steven Adams and Kendrick Perkins both have a propensity for picking up quick fouls, and that would be disastrous against a team with skilled bigs like Portland. On the perimeter, the depth is even worse. Sebastian Telfair is the only guard available for the Thunder off the bench.

collison adams aldridge trailblazers thunder

2. Outside shooting – Oklahoma City’s top 3 perimeter shooters (Durant, Morrow, and Jackson) are out. The Trailblazers will be packing the paint, so making outside shots consistently will be necessary to win the game. All eyes will be on Russell Westbrook, which will leave Roberson, Jones, and Ibaka open from the perimeter. They have to knock down shots for the Thunder to even be in contention to win this game.

3. Westbrook – The great unknown. The fun unknown. We’ve always wondered what a team that solely featured Russell Westbrook would look like. Well, the Westbrook experience is taking off and we bought the Fast Pass. Let’s go!

Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trailblazers preview (Game 54 of 82)

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durant batum thunder trailblazers

  • When: Tuesday, 11 February 2014 at 9:00 PM CST
  • Where: Moda Center, Portland, OR

The Oklahoma City Thunder find themselves in good footing heading into the All-Star break. They are 3.5 games up in the Western Conference and have gotten the tougher part of the schedule out of the way (since Dec. 27, the Thunder have either played back to backs or have had only one day off between games). Also, the Thunder have a certain somebody coming back after the All-Star break.

This will be the last regular season meeting between these two Northwest Division rivals. All 3 previous games have been decided in the 4th quarter, with Portland taking the first two and OKC taking that last meeting.

The Opponent

NBA: Indiana Pacers at Portland Trail Blazers

The Trailblazers are currently 36-15, which is good for 3rd in the Western Conference standings. After a torrid start to begin the season, the Blazers are only 5-6 in their last 11 games. Their biggest issue is defense, where they give up 103.5 ppg. Fortunately for them, they combat that by averaging 108 ppg, good for 1st in the league. They also lead the league in 3-point makes per game (9.4), while making them at a 38.1% clip. Their offense is an inside-out attack, usually starting with LaMarcus Aldridge on a post-up. There, Aldridge either uses his patented fade-away jumper or passes it to a myriad of shooters (Damian Lillard, Mo Williams, CJ McCollum, or Wesley Matthews). Up front, Robin Lopez causes havoc with his energy, especially on the offensive boards.

Probable Starting Line-ups

Portland Trailblazers

  • PG – Damian Lillard
  • SG – Wesley Matthews
  • SF – Nic Batum
  • PF – LaMarcus Aldridge
  • C – Robin Lopez

Oklahoma City Thunder

  • PG – Reggie Jackson
  • SG – Thabo Sefolosha
  • SF – Kevin Durant
  • PF – Serge Ibaka
  • C – Kendrick Perkins

3 Keys to the Game

1. Rebounding – A lot of Portland’s offense either comes through an Aldridge fadeaway or a 3-pointer. With so many perimeter shots, there’s bound to be plenty of rebounds for the taking. In their last three meetings against the Thunder, Aldridge and Lopez have amassed 21 offensive boards between them.

Serge Ibaka, Robin Lopez

2. Turnovers – In the two losses to Portland, the Thunder are averaging 11.5 turnovers per game. In the lone victory, only 7 turnovers. Now, 11.5 TO’s is below the Thunder’s season average, but if you give a jump shooting team ample opportunities to burn you, they eventually will. Also of note, Portland is a decent transition team.

3. Lamb – With Reggie moving over to the starting line-up, it seems as if Lamb has struggled in adjusting to being the No. 1 option on the second team. He’s had flashes of his early season effectiveness, but lately, there have been a lot of 1-8 and 2-10 games. With such a high scoring team, someone outside of Durant, Ibaka, and Jackson will have to step up.

Portland Trailblazers vs. Oklahoma City Thunder preview (Game 31 of 82)

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portland vs thunder

  • When: Tuesday, 31 December 2013 at 7:00 PM CST
  • Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK

Division rivalries are always fun because it’s like you are playing against your cousin. All the teams are, for the most part, close geographically and are guaranteed to play each other 4 times in a season. That makes for a sense of notoriety. But when you are the alpha dog in the division, it makes it even more interesting when a division rival comes out of nowhere to threaten your crown. The Oklahoma City Thunder are like Jay-Z and Kanye West. They are on the throne. And everyone else, including Tuesday’s opponent, the Portland Trailblazers, is watching the throne.

This will be the second meeting of the season between these two teams. The Trailblazers won the first game, 111-104, behind a strong 3rd quarter that saw them take an 11 point halftime deficit and convert it into a 3 point lead by the beginning of the 4th quarter. From there it was back and forth, with the Trailblazers coming up with enough stops to win the game. Kevin Durant finished with 33 points and Russell Westbrook had 21, but the two Thunder superstars were eclipsed by a seemingly unstoppable LaMarcus Aldridge, who finished with 38 points and 13 rebounds.

The Opponent

NBA: Indiana Pacers at Portland Trail Blazers

The Trailblazers come into the game with a 24-7 record, and are one of the real surprises in the league. They lead the league in team scoring, at 108.6 points per game, but struggle defensively, giving up an average of 102.6 points per game, good for 26th in the league. Portland came out guns blazing in their first 29 games, going 24-5, but have lost their last 2 games in dramatic fashion on game-winning shots from the opponent. The Portland attack is led by last season’s Rookie of the Year, Damian Lillard, who is joined by Wesley Matthews, who has become a dead-eye 3-point shooter this season. Defensively, Nic Batum is one of the better SF in the league, and also gives the team some pop offensively. LaMarcus Aldridge has seemingly put it all together this season and is having a career year, averaging 23.4 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. And Robin Lopez does a great job of being their garbage man. The bench is good, and with so many shooters (Mo Williams, Dorrell Wright) it can be explosive at times.

Probable Starting Line-Up

Portland Trailblazers

  • PG – Damian Lillard
  • SG – Wesley Matthews
  • SF – Nic Batum
  • PF – LaMarcus Aldridge
  • C – Robin Lopez

Oklahoma City Thunder

  • PG – Reggie Jackson
  • SG – Thabo Sefolosha
  • SF – Kevin Durant
  • PF – Serge Ibaka
  • C – Kendrick Perkins

3 Keys to the Game

1. Perimeter Defense – The Trailblazers have 5 regular rotation players that shoot over 36% from 3-point territory. With an “inside to outside” offense, Portland is dependent on Aldridge drawing the defense into the paint, allowing the shooters to get open. The Thunder will have to defend Portland in the same fashion it defended Houston two nights back. The perimeter defenders will have to stay on the shooters and not get sucked in.

2. Rebounding – It will be extremely important that the Thunder bigs not allow Portland to gobble up offensive rebounds. In the last game, Lopez and Aldridge combined for 9 offensive rebounds that led to 12 extra points for Portland. Take away half of those, and it’s an entirely different game for the Thunder.

Oklahoma City Thunder v Portland Trail Blazers

3. Pace – As strange as it seems, the Trailblazers are the more half-courted oriented team between the two. Even though they lead the league in scoring, they work their offense from inside to out with Aldridge being the post presence. If the Thunder can push the pace, with Portland struggling on the defensive end, I could see the Thunder outlasting Portland, especially when they are on the second night of a back to back.

Oklahoma City Thunder: Lessons from Summer School

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okc summer league champs

The Oklahoma City Thunder finished summer league with a 5-0 record, and were crowned champions of the first ever Orlando Summer League Championship. While it is cause for celebration, it’s important to remember that this is Summer League. A league where at least 50% of the participants will log as many minutes in the NBA as you and I. Regardless of talent level though, there were a lot of things to take from summer league. Here are a couple:

1. Reggie Jackson is ready to make The Jump. The Jump is the term for when a player starts to understand the nuances of the professional game and it slows down for them. Kevin Durant led the league in scoring his 3rd season, Russell Westbrook made it to his first All-Star Game and made 2nd Team All NBA in his 3rd season, and James Harden won 6th Man of the Year in his 3rd season. In his one full game in summer league, Jackson broke the Orlando Summer League record with 35 points, bringing the Thunder back from a 12 point 4th quarter deficit with 23 of those points coming in that final quarter. He completely dominated getting to any spot on the floor that he wanted. While I don’t expect a repeat performance during the NBA season, I do think that Reggie is ready to take that next step in his development. Continue reading Oklahoma City Thunder: Lessons from Summer School →