Nba Playoffs Rd 1: [2] Oklahoma City Thunder Vs. [7] Dallas Mavericks

[King Taharqa]

[2] Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19)

PG-#0 Russell Westbrook

UCLA '08

6'3 190 lbs

23.7 PPG 4.5 RPG 5.4 APG 1.7 SPG

SG-#2 Thabo Sefolosha

Switzerland '06

6'7 215 lbs

4.8 PPG 3.1 RPG 1.1 APG 43.3 3PT%

SF-#35 Kevin Durant

Texas '07

6'9 235 lbs

27.9 PPG 8.0 RPG 3.5 APG 37.9 3PT%

PF-#9 Serge Ibaka

Congo '08

6'10 235 lbs

9.1 PPG 7.7 RPG 3.7 BPG

C-#5 Kendrick Perkins

Clifton J. Ozen HS '05 (Beaumont, TX)

6'10 275 lbs

5.0 PPG 6.6 RPG 1.2 APG 1.1 BPG

BENCH

PG-#37 Derek Fisher

SG-#14 Daequan Cook

SF-#13 James Harden

PF-#4 Nick Collison

C-#8 Nazr Mohammed

HEAD COACH

Scott Brooks

[King Taharqa]

[7] Dallas Mavericks (36-30)

PG-#2 Jason Kidd

California '94

6'4 210 lbs

6.2 PPG 4.1 RPG 5.5 APG 1.7 SPG 35.4 3PT%

SG-#25 Vince Carter

UNC '98

6'6 220 lbs

10.2 PPG 3.4 RPG 2.3 APG 36.5 3PT%

SF-#0 Shawn "Matrix" Marion

UNLV '99

6'7 228 lbs

10.7 PPG 7.4 RPG 2.1 APG

PF-#41 Dirk Nowitzki

Germany '98

7'0 245 lbs

21.6 PPG 6.8 RPG 2.2 APG 36.5 3PT% 89.4 FT%

C-#33 Brendan Haywood

UNC '01

7'0 263 lbs

5.2 PPG 6.1 RPG 1.0 BPG

BENCH

PG-#13 Delonte West

SG-#31 Jason Terry

SF-#4 Kelenna Azubuike

PF-#31 Brandon Wright

C-#9 Yi Jianlian

HEAD COACH

Rick Carlisle

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While I think Dallas will show their veteran grit as defending champions and give the Thunder a true test of a series, I dont expect them to win. Give me OKC in 7 games. It wont be easy for them, but their homecourt advantage and youthful legs will give them the edge over a Dallas team that seems comfortable with being "one hit wonders".

[HeatCheck]

Had no idea Azubuike was on Dallas.

Thunder in 6. Love their energy at home. Wonder how much Harden will be affected by his concussion.

[Kevin Greene]

Thunder in 5.

[Kakarot]

Thunder in 6

[HeatCheck]

Damn Westbrook off to a good start, good sign. Because when he is off he often keeps shooting.

[HeatCheck]

What the hell is Perkins doing leading the fast break.

[theyhateme45]

Westbrook has been playing and shooting much better this year IMO

[HeatCheck]

Ibaka 3 at the end of the half to cut it to 3. Thunder need to step it up and Durant has been slowly getting it going after a slow start.

[HeatCheck]

Very unselfish play by Westbrook. I actually thought he'd throw it off the backboard.

[HeatCheck]

Westbrook doing it all. Scoring, rebounding, and most importantly distributing. When he is confident and playing within himself he is tough to stop.

[HeatCheck]

What a difficult And1 by Westbrook. Great game so far for "Mr. Why Not?."

Thunder's defense has whats gotten them back in this game.

[HeatCheck]

Durant clutches it with a game winner even on an off night. Very tough shot as well.

So often in this game have Durant and Westbrook drove and beat their defenders, drawing others' attention only to dish it off to Ibaka for an easy basket.

Great ending. Durant didn't ball tonight but Westbrook and Harden picked him up.

What bothered me on the second to last possession from OKC was that Harden was so hell bent on giving the ball to Durant. He didn't even bother to look for Westbrook who was open and forced a pass that almost got stolen from VC. They could have sealed it a possession before. Nice to know OKC can win without Durant's best.

[King Taharqa]