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Game #33: Thunder @ Spurs

Happy New Year!

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San Antonio Spurs vs Oklahoma City Thunder
Where: AT&T Center

When: 1/1/2011, 7:30PM Spurs Time - Timezone Converter
Watch: FSSW


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By the Numbers

Data sources:
hoopdata.com | basketball-reference.com | John Hollinger's team stats

Category Offense
(rank)
Defense
(rank)
Efficiency Rating 110.5
(1st)
100.9
(8th)
Rebound %
25.6
(15th)
75.3
(8th)
Field Goal % 47.1
(5th)
45.7
(16th)
3-Point % 40.2
(1st)
40.3
(29th)
Free Throw %
77.4
(11th)
73.7
(3rd)
Turnover %
12.6
(1st)
14.1
(13th)
Assist %
61.8
(6th)
54.1
(3rd)
Category Offense
(rank)
Defense
(rank)
Efficiency Rating 107.0
(7th)
104.0
(17th)
Rebound %
26.3
(14th)
73.8
(18th)
Field Goal % 45.4
(19th)
46.8
(22nd)
3-Point % 32.3
(30th)
39.0
(27th)
Free Throw %
83.9
(1st)
74.9
(8th)
Turnover %
12.9
(5th)
14.2
(11th)
Assist %
54.1
(23rd)
55.5
(6th)
Record Wins Losses
Overall 28 4
Conference 19 3
Division 5
2
Home 18 2
Away 10
2
Position Conference Division
Record 1st 1st
Lineups

Starters
PG: Tony Parker
SG: Manu Ginobili
SF: Richard Jefferson
PF: DeJuan Blair
C: Tim Duncan

Key Bench Players
George Hill
Matt Bonner
Antonio McDyess
Gary Neal
Tiago Splitter

Record Wins Losses
Overall 23 11
Conference 12 7
Division 6
1
Home 13 6
Away 10 5
Position Conference Division
Record 4th 1st
Lineups

Starters
PG: Russell Westbrook
SG: Thabo Sefolosha
SF: Kevin Durant
PF: Jeff Green
C: Nenad Krstic

Key Bench Players
James Harden
Nick Collison
Serge Ibaka
Eric Maynor

Matchup Analysis

Point Guard
Shooting Guard
Small Forward

Power Forward

Center
Bench
Coach

Intangibles
Mojo
Winner

Starters

PG: Tony had a down game against the stellar Mavs interior defense. OKC does not have such a defense, so Tony should be back to his old ways. Westbrook has continued his vast improvement shown with the national team this summer. The Thunder has two legitimate stars now.

SG: Manu was still under the weather against the Mavs, although he shot much better from behind the arc. Sefolosha is a rangy defender and a good rebounder, but he'll have his hands full trying to shut down The Sickness.

SF: I love what RJ 2.0 has shown this year. However, he has to guard the Durantula tonight. It might be a case of let Durant get his, but not anyone else.

PF: Green and Blair are both energy guys who grab boards. It'll be interesting to see how Blair responds to playing someone who isn't significantly bigger.

C: Timmeh is still capable of carrying the Spurs when needed (see Mavs game). Krstic is not Timmeh.

Bench

Hill, Neal and Bonner versus Harden, Ibaka and Maynor. I'll take BAM.

Coaching

Brooks has done a great job with a young team, but defense has struggled this year. Pop thinks our defense stinks.

Intangibles

The Thunder won last night, but are on a SEGABABA and are not great on the road. The Spurs are coming off two big wins and have been great at home.

Mojo

The Spurs are off to their best start in franchise history. The Thunder are a young team which hasn't made the leap yet.

Prediction

Even when the Spurs haven't played great this year, they've still won. The offensive machine should fare well enough against the Thunder defense to win.

Key(s) to the Game

Defense - The Thunder are not a high-assist team. The Spurs need to play tight defense and make buckets tough to come by.

3-Pt Shooting - The Spurs shoot a lot of 3 balls. The Thunder do not defend the arc well.

Other Reading

Spurs

48 Minutes of Hell

OPPONENT

Welcome to Loud City (SB Nation)

Following Along

TV

Fox Sports Southwest

Radio

WOAI 1200AM; Audio League Pass[streaming]

Online

As always, NBA league pass is recommended for those who are willing to pony up the cash. Almost every Spurs game will be broadcast there, which is especially helpful for those of us who aren't in the San Antonio area.

Please don't post links to illegal game feeds in the game thread. Links to illegal feeds are not permitted on SBNation, but you can probably find them out there on the internets if you're resourceful and desperate. You can also shoot an email to poundingtherockmail@yahoo.com (IMPORTANT: Please include your PtR username in the email for reference) for further assistance.