Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
This Sunday, the (20-23) Oklahoma City Thunder will travel to Brooklyn, NY to take on the (27-14) Brooklyn Nets. Tipoff will be at 6:00 PM EST inside the Barclays Center. This will be the first time that these two teams have matched up this season, as I am expecting a battle in this one.
The Thunder are coming into this one after defeating the Chicago Bulls, 124-110. They performed great on both sides of the court, as they will have to stay aggressive in this one if they want to take down the Nets on the road.
The Brooklyn Nets are entering this game after falling to the Boston Celtics, 109-98. They looked better on the defensive end, as they will have to contest shots near the rim and on the perimeter if they want to bounce back at home.
This game was written/published before last night's results.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are currently in 11th place in the Western Conference standings, as they trail the Denver Nuggets by 9.5 games. On offense, they are scoring 116.9 points per game and they have shot 46.6% from the floor. This is the seventh most points scored per contest and the 20th-highest team shooting percentage. According to dunksandthrees.com, the Thunder have an adjusted offensive rating of 113.2, which is the 17th-highest rating in the NBA. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to lead the way on the offensive end of the floor, as he is scoring 30.7 points per game on 50.4% shooting from the floor. Oklahoma City has been more successful when they drive to the basket, but they are still shooting 35.6% from behind the arc. This is the 17th-highest three-point shooting percentage in the league. Luckily, they have continued to take advantage of their shots at the charity stripe. They are shooting 79/5% from the line, which is the 1 1th-highest free-throw shooting percentage.
On the defensive end of the court, the Thunder are allowing 116.4 points per game and their opponents have shot 46.5% from the floor. This is the 22nd most points surrendered per contest and the 10th-lowest shooting percentage allowed from the floor. According to dunksandthrees.com, OKC has an adjusted defensive rating of 112.7, which is the 11th lowest rating in the NBA. The Oklahoma City Thunder have also continued to contest shots near the rim and on the outside. Their opponents have only shot 35.6% from deep, which is the 14th-lowest three-point shooting percentage allowed in the league. The OKC Thunder are also grabbing 44.2 rebounds per game, which is the ninth most. They have to crash the defensive glass if they want to keep the Nets from scoring second-chance points.
Injury Report: Isaiah Joe PG (Illness) is questionable. Aleksej Pokusevski PF (Knee), Ousmane Dieng PF (Wrist), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl PF (Ankle), and Chet Holmgren C (Foot) are out.
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