May 13, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) reaches for a rebound as guard Derek Fisher (6) forward Kevin Durant (35) and Memphis Grizzlies forward Tayshaun Prince (21) look on at the FedexForum. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports

This is it for the Oklahoma City Thunder now. Win or go home.

The Thunder haven’t been in this situation since they played the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals last season.

This is different though. The Thunder seem to be on a downward spiral in their last few games while Kevin Durant seems to be wearing down.

The good news for the Thunder is that they return home tonight. The hope is that they can steal back some of the momentum Memphis got in the last three games.

Every game has been close in this series so the Thunder shouldn’t be down on themselves too much. The most demoralizing part is simply their inability to score now with Russell Westbrook on the sidelines.

Tony Allen has drawn Durant down the stretch of the past few games and has made things very difficult for him to get into a rhythm.

Durant has in his head that he hasn’t played well the last few games. Coming back home I think we can expect a big game from him tonight.

The role players from OKC should get some confidence from Durant playing well and hopefully step up too.

Kevin Martin and Serge Ibaka played much better in the last game as the Thunder jumped out to an early, big lead. The Thunder can’t afford for either of them to take a step back tonight.

Once again, tonight’s game should be close. The Grizzlies have proven themselves late in these games while the Thunder have really started to stumble.

The game will tip at 8:30 p.m. CST and air on TNT.

May 11, 2013; Memphis, TN, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Reggie Jackson (15) brings the ball up court in game three of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedEx Forum. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder are now facing a series deficit for the first time since the Western Conference Finals last season.

The Thunder lost 87-81 in Game 3 in Memphis on Saturday afternoon as their offense went ice cold down the stretch and they couldn’t make the stops when they needed to.

Every game of this series has been close so far and it’s hard to imagine anything differently happening the rest of the way.

The Thunder’s defense has not been bad in this series and they clearly need more points to win.

Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin are the key when it comes to that. Ibaka went just 6-for-17 in Game 3 and really struggled from the field at times. Martin also has yet to replicate his Game 1 performance in which he torched Memphis for 25 points.

The Thunder are certainly trying to emphasize Ibaka in the offense and he just isn’t knocking down shots.

The starting lineup is what’s really killing the Thunder which always seems to be the case when things aren’t going well.

The Grizzlies are destroying the Thunder starters who are basically playing two on five with Kevin Durant trying to create everything.

A heavier dose of Nick Collison will be needed if the Thunder intend to come back in this series. The best Thunder fans can wish for at this point is quick, early fouls on Kendrick Perkins and maybe even an injury. It’s gotten that bad.

The Thunder can still win in spite of their starting five. They could still knock down more of their spot-up shots and ride Durant’s cape the rest of the way.

I’m not ready to say this is a must-win for the Thunder yet because they are going back to OKC in this series no matter what and the momentum will have a chance to really shift their way then. But this is very close to a must-win. The way the Thunder offense has looked against Memphis, it’s hard to imagine them mustering up enough points to beat the Grizzlies three straight times.

Tonight will tip at 8:30 p.m. CST and air on TNT.

May 5, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Quincy Pondexter (20) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Kevin Martin (23) during the second half in game one of the second round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Thunder defeated the Grizzlies 93-91. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Thanks to some late game heroics from Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder are up 1-0 vs. the Memphis Grizzlies in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Game 2 is tonight and it’s time to see how these teams adjust.

The Grizzlies found out in Game 1 that the Thunder can contain their bigs. They will need others to step up. Aside from a small stretch in the first half where Jerryd Bayless got hot, Memphis didn’t get much else from players not named Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, who combined for 38 points and 20 rebounds.

Durant stole the show for OKC going for 35 points, 15 rebounds and six assists. He just continues to play at an unreal level since the Russell Westbrook injury and has completely put this team on his back.

In the final 7:20 of Game 1, Durant scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including a dagger with 11 seconds left to give the Thunder a 91-90 lead.

Durant was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted in Game 1. The looks he got were not too tough and this is something the Grizzlies need to change going forward in this series.

Another huge lift for the Thunder came from Kevin Martin, who scored 25 points off the bench for the second consecutive game. Martin hit some difficult shots and took the Grizzlies defense by surprise a few times. Look for Memphis to concentrate much more on Martin now.

The Thunder won Game 1 despite Serge Ibaka shooting 1-for-10 from the field. It would be nearly impossible for Ibaka to do any worse. Ibaka’s defense down the stretch on Randolph was very solid though and he even blocked his shot a few times.

Every game in this series promises to be close. I doubt tonight will be any different.

The game will tip at 8:30 p.m. CST on TNT.

May 3, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) drives the ball on a fast brea during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets in game six of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The second round of the NBA Playoffs begins today with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies kicking things off in OKC.

Both the Thunder and Grizzlies finished off their first round opponents Friday night in Game 6’s. The Thunder beat the Houston Rockets 103-94 and Memphis beat the Los Angeles Clippers 118-105.

Both of these teams’ series changed after the first two games. The Thunder saw Russell Westbrook go down with an injury that will keep him sidelined for the rest of the playoffs. Adjusting without Russ was very difficult.

Memphis lost the first two games of its series vs. the Clippers before coming back and winning four straight thanks to Zach Randolph averaging 26 and 10 in those last four games.

This series promises to be very different for both of these teams than their first round series were.

Oklahoma City will see a much more formidable defense than what Houston had. Memphis has the Defensive Player of the Year in Marc Gasol and a solid line of defense up and down their roster.

The Thunder saw their offense become much more stagnant since the Westbrook injury and that was against a poor defensive team in Houston. While OKC made some progress without Russ, things will be much more difficult vs. Memphis. Expect the open spot-up looks to decrease and life on Kevin Durant will get tougher as well.

Memphis had their way with the Clipper in the first round inside. If there is one team that can match Memphis’ bigs, it is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Kendrick Perkins will be relevant again in this series and Serge Ibaka and Nick Collison will play much more important roles than they did vs. Houston. Memphis’ style of play actually sets up better for the Thunder in the post-Westbrook world. Playing more conventional lineups will be much easier for the Thunder and they won’t have to worry about going small to match up.

The key in this series will be how Memphis decides to defend Durant. They may try and play him somewhat straight up to ensure the other Thunder players don’t beat them or they may load up on KD whenever he touches the ball.

Either way, the Thunder are going to need others to step up and they should simply expect Durant to average 35.5 points per game like he did the last four games vs. Houston.

Reggie Jackson has done well in Westbrook’s spot. He has had success attacking in transition and sometimes in the pick-and-roll finishing at the rim. He still needs to make better decisions overall but he’s improving every game.

Kevin Martin may be the most important player in this series. Without him scoring at least 15 points every game, the Thunder probably won’t have a chance. He woke up in Game 6 vs. Houston scoring 21 of his 25 points in the first half and the Thunder will need more of that from him.

Collison seems to be the key to get Martin going. They have developed a nice two-man game this season and Martin seems to score much more when Collison is on the floor with him. Collison will of course be very valuable in defending Randolph as well and should see a lot of minutes in this series.

Ibaka is the final piece of the puzzle for the Thunder. He has been up and down in the playoffs. He seemed to have the most success when he could dominate the offensive glass vs. Houston, something that will be much more difficult to pull off vs. Memphis.

Ibaka should see more opportunities in the pick-and-pop and the Thunder ball handlers need to get him touches to get his confidence going. Ibaka will need to slow down Randolph and not bite on every pump fake that’s thrown at him. If he can help dominate the paint and really limit the Memphis bigs, OKC will be in good shape to win the series.

The Thunder have homecourt advantage and never before have they needed it as much. Memphis will look to steal one of these first two in OKC and the Thunder really can’t afford to let one slip away.

The Thunder and Grizzlies both have proven that they can win on the road in these playoffs which may result in this series gong seven.

The game will tip at noon CST and air nationally on ABC.

May 1, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Reggie Jackson (15) and Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha (2) during the first half in game five of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Things just seem to keep getting worse for the Oklahoma City Thunder in this series.

Since taking a 3-0 lead, the Houston Rockets have fought back to force tonight’s Game 6 and all of the momentum seems to be in their favor.

The loss of Russell Westbrook has left the Thunder scrambling to figure out how to play without him. It hasn’t been pretty and really the only reason they have been in these games has been the offensive brilliance of Kevin Durant.

Durant is averaging 38.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game since the Westbrook injury and he’s shooting 52 percent from the field.

In the fourth quarter of Game 5, we saw Durant held scoreless for the first time in his playoff career in the fourth quarter as the Thunder could not come back.

OKC resorted to hacking Omer Asik again and again in what is usually a plan for a team with no answers.

James Harden stole the show playing his best game of the series and making all seven of his three-point attempts.

The Rockets’ confidence is now at an all-time high and for good reason. They still need to win two more games though.

There were some positive signs you can take from the last game. The offense did seem slightly better but maybe that was just because they were playing at home.

It was impossible though for the Thunder to overcome Kevin Martin shooting 1-for-10 from the field. Odd as well was Nick Collison playing just six and a half minutes in the game.

For as bad as the Thunder offense has looked, they’ve still been decently efficient. It’s the defense that is really struggling against Houston’s small lineups.

Small lineups have stumped Scott Brooks in the past and this series is more of that. Kendrick Perkins has been basically useless and even the perimeter players are making simple mistakes on a regular basis.

The Thunder need to get it together on that end of the floor before anything else to finish the Rockets off. Two losses in a row should serve as a pretty big wakeup call and the Thunder should put forth a better defensive effort and performance tonight.

It feels like the Thunder will need a complete game to get the win though. They need to tighten up the defense and hope Durant can still play out of this world.

The game will tip at 8:30 p.m. CST tonight and air nationally on ESPN.

Apr 29, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets small forward Chandler Parsons (25) takes a shot over Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) in the fourth quarter in game four of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at the Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Thunder 105-103. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder return home tonight to try and close out the Houston Rockets for the second time in this series.

The Thunder had a chance to sweep Houston Monday night in Game 4 but came up just short, losing 105-103.

Serge Ibaka missed a putback as time expired that would have sent the game into overtime.

Kevin Durant had another monster performance throwing up 38 points, eight rebounds and six assists. He did turn the ball over seven times however but he was 12-for-16 from the field.

The Rockets were hot from deep and hit the offensive glass which helped them come out on top. James Harden had a very weak game for them scoring just 15 points and turning the ball over 10 times.

Odds are the rest of the games in this series will be tight. Both teams didn’t quite play as well as they could have in Game 4 but also came up big in other areas. If it balances out at all, we’re still in for another close game.

The Rockets showed in Game 2 – the first game in which they totally committed to small ball – that they can hang with the Thunder in OKC. And the Thunder had Russell Westbrook for that game.

As long as the Rockets keep playing small, they should have enough depth for enough guys to step up and knock down shots while they continue to give the Thunder trouble by spreading the floor.

The Thunder’s offense is still a work in progress since the Westbrook injury. Durant handled the ball slightly less in Game 4 than in Game 3 but the stagnant sets still showed up late in the game.

Reggie Jackson can still handle the ball more in the pick-and-roll as he continues to learn the right decisions to make. Kevin Martin did a decent job establishing himself. And Derek Fisher can’t miss.

The Thunder had to work so hard to get Durant touches and only his brilliance saved them and made it a close game.

The real key for the Thunder though is to hurt the Rockets on the offensive glass. Ibaka needs to be the guy here. He had seven offensive boards in the Game 3 win but just two to go with eight points in the last game.

The Thunder should be able to settle down some since they are at home and get a better offensive game from everyone. The way Houston is stacking up on defending Durant has made it so that the open spot-up looks still exist for the Thunder role players. They’ll shoot better at home.

The game will tip at 8:30 p.m. CST tonight and air nationally on TNT.

Apr 27, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard Kevin Martin (23) reacts after a play during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets in game three of the first round of the 2013 NBA playoffs at the Toyota Center. The Thunder defeated the Rockets 104-101. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will get a chance to go for the sweep tonight on the road against the Houston Rockets in Game 4.

Game 3 was the first game in Thunder franchise history without Russell Westbrook.

Kevin Durant dominated playing 47 minutes and scoring 41 points to go with 14 rebounds and four assists. Durant also hit a huge three-pointer with 41 seconds left to seal the deal for the Thunder.

The Thunder got out to a 26-point lead in the game but the Rockets were able to come all the way back and take the lead at one point late in the fourth quarter.

Despite getting the tough, road, playoff win, there is a lot to worry about with the Thunder going forward.

It felt like they willed themselves to win Game 3 in honor of Westbrook. That should be less of a factor tonight and if we see more of what went on in the second half of that game, the Thunder won’t be in good shape.

Durant essentially played point guard the entire game. The Thunder need to find a way to feature players like Reggie Jackson, Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin more.

Durant probably won’t play the entire game again but don’t be surprised if his minutes are still up around 45. It’s not just resting him on the bench that is important but resting him on the floor and not asking him to do absolutely everything.

Jackson played well starting in place of Westbrook and it feels like his confidence will only grow with the more experience he gets.

Ibaka got seven offensive rebounds which is key in this matchup vs. the Rockets. He needs to keep that up and find more touches within the offense as well.

Martin has had three bad games in this series and is basically due to wake up. The Thunder desperately need to be able to run their offense through him some with Westbrook out.

The Rockets will continue to go small in this series and don’t be surprised if they pull out the win tonight. This doesn’t feel like a team that should be swept, even by the Thunder.

The game will tip tonight at 8:30 p.m. CST.

Apr 24, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) talks with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant in the second half during game two of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Well, this series took a turn for the worse.

We found out yesterday that Russell Westbrook would be having surgery on his right knee to repair a torn meniscus from a collision with Patrick Beverley in Game 2. We find out today that Westbrook is out for the rest of the playoffs.

Now we get to see a Thunder team that we have literally never seen before: one without Russell Westbrook.

This changes so much in this series basically because we don’t really know what to expect from the Thunder.

Houston committed to small ball in Game 2 and it gave the Thunder some trouble and resulted in a much closer game. That’s surely going to be the strategy going forward for the Rockets while we’re not even sure what the Thunder will do to combat it.

Kevin Durant will be called upon to do it all from now on in the playoffs. This is something he has basically been preparing for with his LeBron James imitation this season. Expect KD to play 44 minutes per night and probably the entire second half of every game the rest of the playoffs.

Defenses should be more geared to Durant than ever before now which will mean Durant’s willingness to pass will be on full display. The Thunder can only hope that their shooters will be open and they will be ready to knock down shots.

Reggie Jackson will start at point guard in place of Westbrook. He should see a big increase in minutes along with Derek Fisher and Kevin Martin.

The Thunder desperately need Martin and Serge Ibaka to step up as scorers. Both haven’t exactly been consistent at that this year but have shown the potential to do so at times.

Tonight will be about winning it for Westbrook. The Thunder are worse off for the rest of the playoffs without him but tonight should be an emotional game for a Thunder team that will play their hearts out to win it for Russ.

You expect someone will have to be inserted into the rotation to replace Russ and that might be Ronnie Brewer, who should fit in well with this series as a defender against Houston’s small lineups.

We will see how Scott Brooks reacts. The game will tip at 8:30 p.m. CST and air nationally on ESPN.

Apr 21, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Houston Rockets forward Greg Smith (4) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) in the second half during game one of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

After two days off, the Oklahoma City Thunder are set to host the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of their first round series.

The Thunder completely dominated the Rockets in Game 1 winning 120-91. The Thunder shot 53 percent from the field in the game and seemingly got whatever they wanted on offense.

James Harden was held to 20 points on 6-of-19 shooting. He was the only Houston starter in double-figures.

Kevin Durant finished with an easy 24 points while Russell Westbrook had 19 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. KD and Russ both went 7-for-15 from the field.

Westbrook was huge simply putting a ton of pressure on the Houston defense. Any chance he got, Westbrook would drive right at Jeremy Lin and make a play. The Rockets defense simply could not handle him.

Lin really struggled for Houston shooting just 1-for-7 from the field and scoring only four points. Lin turned the ball over a few times early in the game as he just didn’t seem ready for the speed of the playoffs.

Serge Ibaka really came up big for the Thunder aggressively looking for his shot from the start. He went on to score 17 points along with seven rebounds and three blocks.

It will be interesting to see if Houston tries to take away Ibaka going forward in this series. If they do, it will only open up more driving lanes for Westbrook.

We saw in Game 1 just how bad of a matchup this is for the Rockets. The Thunder can play at any pace Houston desires and do so better.

The Rockets will need to commit more to small lineups and hope to shoot lights out from three to stick with the Thunder the rest of the series.

Tonight’s game will tip at 6 p.m. CST and air nationally on TNT.

Feb 20, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) attempts a jump shot during the fourth quarter as Houston Rockets small forward Chandler Parsons (25) defends at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Thunder 122-119. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

The playoffs are finally here. If you watched the Oklahoma City Thunder a lot this year, you could tell they just couldn’t wait for the playoffs to start and the games to start meaning a lot more.

The Thunder had one of the best seasons in NBA history in a lot of respects. They won 60 games and their winning margin was among one of the best ever. All of this despite trading James Harden to the Houston Rockets right before the start of the regular season.

Who are the Thunder seeing in the first round? The Beard and the Houston Rockets of course.

The Thunder took the season series vs. Houston 2-1. Two of the games were very memorable.

The Thunder first saw Harden return to Chesapeake Energy Arena on Nov. 28. The welcome was not friendly. The Thunder dominated from the tip and won 120-98. Harden went 3-for-16 from the field and had his shot blocked seven times.

OKC made easy work of the Rockets the next time they played on Dec. 29 in Houston beating them 124-94. Harden didn’t struggle as much this time but the Thunder were still way too much for the Rockets to handle.

The final meeting of the season came on Feb. 20 in Houston and Harden would have the best game of his career. He scored a career-high 46 points on 14-of-19 shooting from the field, 7-of-8 shooting from three and 11-for-12 from the line. He led the Rockets back from behind in the fourth and made every big shot down the stretch.

The big question is: which Harden will we see in this series? Probably closer to the first time he visited OKC.

The Thunder are going to be up for this series as much as anything. They aren’t going to allow Harden to come back to OKC and put on a show.

Between Thabo Sefolosha, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant the Thunder should have no problem containing Harden, who averaged 25.9 points, 5.8 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game this season.

The Rockets had a great season winning 45 games. They end up as the eight-seed but were very close to being the sixth. They are a better than average eight-seed that has the worst possible matchup in the first round.

Houston won games because they got up and down the court more than their opponent. They found out how to get a lot of open threes and they made a good deal of them. Defensively, they were one of the weaker teams in the league.

In the playoffs, the game will slow down and Houston’s advantage in transition that they enjoyed in the regular season will disappear. Even if some of these games are played at a high pace, the Thunder are more than happy to do so.

Durant averaged 26.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game vs. the Rockets in the regular season. Westbrook averaged 23.3 points, 8.3 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game. Serge Ibaka averaged 16.0 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.0 blocks per game.

The Thunder stars will get theirs in this series. Houston isn’t slowing anyone down. When that’s the case, the Thunder don’t lose.

The best case scenario for the Rockets is Harden going off in a game or two. If he doesn’t, the Rockets might not win a game.

Game 1 will tip tonight at 8:30 CST and air nationally on ESPN.

January 25, 2013; Sacramento, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) attempts a shot over Sacramento Kings forward James Johnson (52) in the fourth quarter at Sleep Train Arena. The Thunder defeated the Kings 105-95. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look for their 60th win tonight and to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference as the Sacramento Kings come to town.

With two games left in the regular season at home, the Thunder need to win just one of them to ensure the top seed in the conference. They are currently a game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs for that top spot.

The Kings shouldn’t pose much of a threat tonight, especially this late in the season when teams in their situation are usually better off losing to gain a higher draft pick.

The Thunder beat the Kings twice already this season by 10 points each time.

Still on the line is Kevin Durant’s chase to become the third player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring four straight seasons. Durant is currently averaging 28.1 points per game while Carmelo Anthony is leading the league averaging 28.7 per game.

It would take a huge scoring night with Durant probably needing to go for 50 or close to it in one of these last two games to catch Anthony.

More impressively though is Durant on pace to become just the seventh player in NBA history to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from three and 90 percent from the free throw line.

Kevin Martin’s status tonight is uncertain. He missed the Thunder’s last game vs. the Portland Trail Blazers with back spasms. Kendrick Perkins also missed the game and may not play tonight either.

The Kings have been scoring at an unbelievable clip of late so the Thunder won’t be able to sleepwalk their way to victory. They will have to score a lot and the Kings won’t make that too difficult for them.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST.

Mar 24, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Reggie Jackson (15) handles the ball against Portland Trailblazers forward Nicolas Batum (88) during the first half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder get a road back-to-back in Portland where it is always tough to win.

The Thunder are coming off an impressive victory over the Golden State Warriors last night where they beat them by 19 points.

The Thunder have been on a role of late (if you don’t count the Knicks game) playing great defense to go with their always stellar offense.

Tonight feels like one the Thunder might drop though for a couple of reasons.

First off, it’s always tough to play in Portland and the Blazers do a decent job against the Thunder and Kevin Durant in particular, who tends to be less efficient against them.

The Thunder shot lights out last night vs. Golden State. It is something that will be hard to replicate two nights in a row on the road. So if the Thunder come into this game with the same mindset as last night, taking the same shots it may not go as well as it did in Golden State.

The key on the road as it nearly always is will be Russell Westbrook. He was not at his best last night and tonight will have the task of being matched up with rookie Damian Lillard.

Westbrook has gone at Lillard in past meetings and will likely do the same tonight. If he dominates him, that will be the best chance the Thunder have of winning.

Serge Ibaka will most likely be checking LaMarcus Aldridge in this one as Kendrick Perkins is doubtful after a non-serious injury last night.

That means more Nick Collison which is always a good thing.

Tonight will be another tough test for the Thunder. Portland will make it hard on them and expect Scott Brooks to rest KD and Russ a little more than usual, at least in the first half.

The game will tip at 10 p.m. EST.

Feb 6, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Nick Collison (4) fights for a loose ball with Golden State Warriors guard Charles Jenkins (22) and Warriors forward Carl Landry (7) during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will get a preview of what the playoffs are going to taste like tonight on the road vs. the Golden State Warriors.

The Thunder are currently clinging to the top seed in the Western Conference while the Warriors find themselves a game ahead of the Houston Rockets for the all important six-seed.

Each team has won four of their last five games and still has something to play for as the season comes to a close.

The Thunder most recently defeated the Utah Jazz 90-80 in a game where their defense looked much better than it did the game prior vs. the New York Knicks.

The emphasis will again be on defense and containing the Warriors’ shooters, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.

Curry and Thompson can heat up from beyond the arc with the best of them and at home in a big game the Thunder won’t be able to fall asleep on any possessions.

Kevin Durant nearly had a triple-double in the Thunder’s last game as KD has let the scoring title race slip away with Carmelo Anthony coming on strong.

Durant has said he doesn’t care if he wins it but it will still be interesting to see if he has any huge scoring games left in him this regular season.

The Thunder have beaten the Warriors seven of the last eight times and Golden State’s inability to slow down the Thunder’s offense has always been the reason why.

The key to containing the Thunder on offense is making things tough on Russell Westbrook, something that seems unlikely to happen tonight considering the weak perimeter defenders on the Warriors roster.

Jarrett Jack may be needed to play a large role in slowing down Westbrook. The Warriors bench in general definitely needs to outplay the Thunder’s if they’re going to come away with a win.

The game will air nationally on TNT with the tip coming at 10:30 p.m. EST.

Mar 13, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Utah Jazz guard Randy foye (8) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to bounce back tonight as they hit the road to take on the Utah Jazz.

The Thunder lost their last game vs. the New York Knicks at home 125-120. Defense was nonexistent in that game so the Thunder should be eager to get back on the court tonight.

The Knicks also really hurt the Thunder on the offensive glass, something that the Jazz pride themselves on and will have to do as well to beat the Thunder tonight.

Utah is one of the toughest places to play in the league so the Thunder will have their work cut out for them tonight.

The Jazz have a lot to play for as they are just a half game ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.

The Thunder are also in a race for a playoff seed as they currently sit one game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the top seed in the West.

This game could be a preview of the first round of the playoffs.

The other big thing at stake now is Kevin Durant winning the scoring title. After Sunday’s loss to the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony passed Durant as the leading scorer this season. Durant is currently averaging 28.35 points per game and Anthony 28.44.

The Thunder need to win four of their last five games to reach 60 wins on the season.

The game will tip at 9 p.m. EST.

Mar. 7, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) shoots over New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler (6) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Thunder won 95-94. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

The hottest team in the NBA will come into town to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder this afternoon at 1 p.m. EST.

The New York Knicks have won their last 11 games and their best player, Carmelo Anthony, is on a huge scoring tear.

Anthony has scored 50, 40 and 41 points in his last three games as he is closing on Kevin Durant for the scoring title. Durant is currently averaging 28.4 points per game this year and Anthony is right behind him at 28.3.

Today’s game will be a huge matchup not just because of the quality of teams but because of the scoring race. It will be on national television too so you know both Durant and Anthony are looking to outshine the other.

Containing Anthony and making him shoot inefficiently is certainly the number one priority for the Thunder. OKC will also have to defend the three-point line well and if they do those two things, should have no problem getting the victory.

The Knicks are going to have a very tough time trying to slow down Russell Westbrook and at home, the Thunder role players always seem to step up as well.

The Knicks currently lead the Pacers by two games for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Thunder are a half game back of the Spurs for the top spot in the West. These teams aren’t considering resting their stars at this point in the season. Both very much want to win.

After today’s game, we should have a good idea of who will win the scoring title. It’s statement time for Durant and Anthony. With the game in OKC, my money is on KD.

Dec 9, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Indiana Pacers center Roby Hibbert (55) attempts a dunk against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder get a tough back-to-back tonight having to hit the road to take on the Indiana Pacers one night after they beat the San Antonio Spurs 100-88 at home.

The Thunder looked sharp in their win over the Spurs and got a great performance from their bench, including Derek Fisher.

The Pacers are a tough team and play some of the best defense in the NBA, which will only make the back-to-back more grueling for the Thunder.

Indiana is also chasing the No. 2 seed in the conference and needs to finish the season strongly to beat out the New York Knicks for it.

The Pacers are at their best when they are dominating the offensive glass. The Thunder will need to emphasize defensive rebounding tonight. It may make it harder for them to go small.

The Thunder should also look to capitalize on Indiana crashing the glass by running the floor quite a bit.

Russell Westbrook was in a real groove last night especially in transition opportunities. If he carries that over into tonight it will be a very good sign for the Thunder.

Kevin Durant will be getting checked by Paul George for most of the game most likely. George is young but a good athlete to try and slow down Durant. Although we did see last night Kawhi Leonard have very little impact at all on KD.

Last night was a big win for the Thunder in terms of catching San Antonio for the No. 1 seed. That win will be less important if OKC can’t win tonight as well.

The game will tip at 7 p.m. EST and will not be on ESPN as the Miami Heat (LeBron and Wade-less) and Charlotte Bobcats will be on instead.

Apr 9, 2012; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Monta Ellis (11) defends Oklahoma City Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha (2) during the game at the Bradley Center. The Thunder defeated the Bucks 109-89. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be playing a road back-to-back tonight after having lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves last night.

This is the first meeting between the Thunder and Milwaukee Bucks this season. The Thunder will play them again on their last game of the regular season.

The Bucks are essentially locks for the eight-seed in the Eastern Conference and they are two and a half games back of the Boston Celtics for the seventh seed.

The Thunder are two and a half games back of the San Antonio Spurs for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. The Thunder need to win seven of their last nine games to get to 60 wins for the season.

The Bucks look easy on paper but the Thunder have been inconsistent lately, especially on the road. The Bucks are not that bad of a team and definitely have the potential to beat the Thunder on a night like tonight.

The Thunder need their role players to step up. They’ve been losing lately despite Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both playing well.

Kevin Martin was abysmal last night shooting 1-for-9 from the field. Serge Ibaka was decent with 10 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks but the Thunder have come accustomed to more scoring from him and could use it tonight.

The Thunder have rarely lost back-to-back games this season and Milwaukee doesn’t seem like the kind of team that will give the Thunder a second straight loss.

The Bucks are at their best when they play well defensively, where they rank 12th overall in the league. They will need to make the Thunder less efficient to have a chance of beating them tonight, since their offense is ranked just 21st overall on the year.

The Bucks are also ranked 12th in offensive rebound rate and if Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis are high-volume shooters tonight, they’ll need to work to get extra chances to beat the Thunder.

The Bucks are third in the NBA in turnover rate which will be another key for them. You can’t afford to turn the ball over and give a team like the Thunder more possessions than you for no reason.

The Thunder have at least been good defensively of late, even in some of their losses. Since Milwaukee isn’t much of a threat offensively, this should be a pretty good matchup for the Thunder and they should bounce back with a win tonight.

The game will tip at 8:30 p.m. EST.

January 7, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal (3) makes the game-winning basket in the final second over Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) at Verizon Center. The Wizatds won 101-99. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Wizards come to town as the Oklahoma City Thunder will look for their third consecutive win.

The Thunder beat the Portland Trail Blazers in their last game and have had two games off since.

The Wizards beat the Memphis Grizzlies two nights ago 107-94 behind a career-high 47-point performance by John Wall.

Wall has been playing at a very high level of late and it will be impossible to miss the point guard matchup tonight between he and Russell Westbrook.

They are two of the fastest and most athletic guards in the league and if the game becomes a track meet, it will be very entertaining to watch both of them.

Of course, the Thunder should blow out the Wizards, especially playing them at home. Washington is banged up too and the Thunder are still in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference if they close the year out strongly.

The Wizards beat the Thunder earlier this season on a game-winning shot by rookie Bradley Beal at the buzzer.

Kevin Durant had 29 points in that game and Westbrook had 17 on 4-of-17 shooting. Serge Ibaka scored 26 and Kevin Martin was very quiet with just eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.

That game was before Wall returned from injury and the two teams are much different now.

Ibaka really got going against Portland scoring all 16 of his points in the second half. The Thunder need him to start giving them big performances more consistently and it looks like tonight will be a good opportunity for him to do just that.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST.

Jan 13, 2013; Portland, OR, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) shoots against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Rose Garden. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder return home tonight in hopes of winning their second straight game as they will take on the Portland Trail Blazers.

It will be the third meeting this season between the Thunder and Blazers. OKC won the first two games.

The Thunder won 106-92 in what was just the second game of the season for OKC and first home game. Kevin Durant had 23 points and 17 rebounds in the win and Russell Westbrook had 32 points on 13-of-24 shooting.

The Thunder then won in Portland 87-83 on Jan. 13. Durant had 33 in that game and Westbrook had just 18 on 5-for-21 shooting. LaMarcus Aldridge had 33 to lead the Blazers.

What makes this a particularly good matchup for the Thunder is Portland’s lack of depth. They play their five starters as much as nearly any team in the NBA.

At home tonight, the Thunder should have an advantage when their second unit checks in. The Thunder bench always shoots better at home and we’ve been waiting awhile to see them have a good performance.

Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin got back on track in the Thunder’s last game, a win on the road vs. the Orlando Magic. The Thunder always needs at least one of them to step up no matter how well Durant and Westbrook play.

Westbrook has been a beast and then a problem in the two meetings thus far vs. Portland. He will likely try and go at rookie point guard Damian Lillard so expect a lot of shots from Russ tonight. At home, he usually makes more than he misses and lately he’s been playing better as well.

Aldridge has had some success against the Thunder this season but OKC has done a nice job keeping him away from the free throw line. If they make Aldridge a volume shooter, they should have no problem getting the win.

Nicolas Batum is always an X-factor for the Blazers. He has the potential to really go off on any given night and the Thunder will have to make sure to avoid this tonight.

Batum can also do a decent job defending Durant so keep an eye on the small forward matchup all night.

The game will tip at 7 p.m. EST.

Mar 15, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Orlando Magic forward Tobias Harris (12) is fouled by Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) during the first half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Orlando Magic for the second time in the last week.

The Thunder easily beat the Magic 117-104 in OKC last Friday.

Kevin Durant had 26 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Russell Westbrook had 23 points and Serge Ibaka had 20.

The Thunder led by as many as 27 points in the game and then allowed the Magic to come back to within four at one point in the fourth quarter.

This matchup is obviously heavily one-sided. The Thunder are one of the few best teams in the league right now while the Magic are one of the worst.

The Thunder come into tonight having lost their last two games at home vs. the Denver Nuggets and on the road the next night vs. the Memphis Grizzlies.

There was reason to panic after those two losses and the Thunder’s struggles against some of the best teams in the league this season.

The Thunder get a cupcake tonight though and should have no problem getting back to their winning ways. Durant has said this game is a “must-win” for the Thunder.

Nick Collison will be a game-time decision tonight with a groin contusion. Nikola Vucevic will also be a game-time decision for the Magic.

The game will tip at 7 p.m. EST.

Jan 31, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Jerryd Bayless (7) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will deal with a tough back-to-back tonight on the road vs. the Memphis Grizzlies after losing last night at home to the Denver Nuggets.

The Thunder did not get the job done defensively last night and other than Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, weren’t very good offensively either.

It’s only going to get more difficult for the offense tonight vs. Memphis as the Grizzlies are second in the NBA in defensive efficiency.

The Thunder have played the Grizzlies twice already this season. Both games were at home and the Thunder lost the first time 107-97 back on Nov. 14 then they beat Memphis 106-89 Jan. 31, which was the first game for Memphis after trading Rudy Gay.

The key for the Thunder will be getting someone other than Durant or Westbrook to step up. Last night, Serge Ibaka scored only six points and Kevin Martin had 14 with 12 coming in the first half.

On the road, the Thunder will need to knock down some outside shots to stay with Memphis. The Thunder traditionally are a worse shooting team on the road and last night they were very bad as well going 4-for-25 on threes.

The Thunder will get to play more traditional lineups tonight as the Grizzlies go big most of the time. Scott Brooks prefers playing Kendrick Perkins big minutes so don’t expect as many small lineups from the Thunder tonight.

Brooks has been going with the more defensive-minded Thabo Sefolosha to close out games over Martin so we will see if Brooks does this again tonight if the Thunder are struggling to score.

The Thunder have a very difficult task tonight playing in a back-to-back on the road but the Thunder have been one of the most resilient teams in the NBA this season, rarely losing multiple games in a row.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST.

Mar 1, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) drives to the basket during the second half against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 105-103. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look for their fourth consecutive won tonight as they host the surging Denver Nuggets who are winners of their last 12 games.

This will be the fourth time this season that the Thunder and Nuggets have played with the Thunder having won only the first of the three previous meetings.

Oklahoma City won 117-97 back on Jan. 16 in OKC. That was one of the best games the Thunder had played all year up to that point.

They really blew out the Nuggets that night leading by 25 after three and not needing to play their starters in the fourth.

Kevin Durant and Kevin Martin each scored 20 but it was Russell Westbrook who stole the show with 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting in just 28 minutes of action.

The Nuggets won the next two meetings, both of which were in Denver and close games. The Nuggets beat OKC 121-118 in overtime on Jan. 20 thanks to 26 points off the bench from Corey Brewer.

Durant had 37 and Westbrook had 36 in that game as the dynamic duo lived at the line shooting a combined 35-for-38.

Denver then won 105-103 on a last-second shot by Ty Lawson on March 1. This time it was Wilson Chandler scoring 35 off the bench to lead the Nuggets.

Westbrook had another nice scoring night with 38 in the loss and Durant scored 25. Martin only had three points in that game as the Thunder bench was outscored 71-11.

The Nuggets have certainly proven that they can hang with the Thunder this season and even do so late in close games.

Only the Miami Heat are playing better than the Nuggets right now so tonight has all the making of another challenging game for the Thunder.

The reality is that the Thunder play much better at home and it doesn’t seem likely that their bench will be outscored by 60 points again.

Since Westbrook has played so well against Denver this season, that is another good sign that the Thunder will have a strong showing tonight.

The Nuggets are a far different team on the road than at home as well. They are 30-3 at home this season and just 16-19 on the road.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST and air nationally on NBATV.

Feb 4, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Nick Collison (4) attempts a shot against Dallas Mavericks forward Brandan Wright (34) during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks will meet for the fourth and final time this season in Dallas at 7:30 p.m. EST.

The Thunder have won all three previous meetings this season and will look for their 50th win of the season tonight as well.

The Thunder have looked very good in their last two games averaging 113.5 points per game. OKC is averaging 113.3 points per game vs. the Mavericks this season.

Kevin Durant is averaging 37.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per game vs. Dallas on the year. Russell Westbrook is averaging 23.7 points and 7.7 assists per game.

Durant, Westbrook and Serge Ibaka all scored over 20 points in the Thunder’s win two nights ago vs. the Orlando Magic. The bench of the Thunder has looked sharp as of late as well.

It’s always hard to beat a team four times in one season no matter who they are and Dallas has been getting their act together lately too, winning six of their last eight games.

The Thunder have not been at their best away from home this year either. They are just 19-13 on the year on the road compared to 30-4 at home.

It’s usually the bench and Westbrook whose production dips away from Chesapeake Energy Arena. Durant may need to have one of his bigger scoring outputs for the Thunder to win tonight, something he’s had no problem doing vs. Dallas this season.

OKC has done a great job containing Dirk Nowitzki in the season series holding him to just 12.3 points per game and 26.8 percent field goal shooting. Dirk is coming off a tough game last Friday night too in which he scored just 13 points vs. Cleveland and went 6-for-17 from the field.

The Thunder would get their third win in a row if they beat Dallas tonight and also their eighth win in nine games.

Mar 13, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; The Oklahoma City Thunder mascot shoots t-shirts to the fans in a break in action against the Utah Jazz during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look for their second straight win tonight as they host the Orlando Magic at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder are coming off a convincing 110-87 win over the Utah Jazz last Wednesday night.

Kevin Durant had 23 points and 10 rebounds in the game but did not record an assist for the first time all season and he turned the ball over eight times as well.

Russell Westbrook flirted with a triple-double dropping 19 points to go with nine dimes and seven rebounds.

The Thunder starters did not need to play the fourth quarter as the game was already out of hand.

We may see a similar script tonight as the Magic come in as a team unexpected to pose much of a threat against the heavily favored home Thunder.

Orlando lost painfully to the Los Angeles Lakers in their last game at home, 106-97. Dwight Howard had 39 points and 16 rebounds in his first return to Orlando since joining the Lakers.

With only 17 games left in the season for Orlando, now is about the time where a team like them starts mailing games in. They know they aren’t playing for anything other than a higher lottery pick at this point. Expect to see things like young players getting longer burn rather than trying to win at all costs.

The Thunder are in a funny place right now too. Their record says they are better than last year but it doesn’t exactly feel that way, at least not all of the time.

Before beating Utah on Wednesday, the Thunder lost to the San Antonio Spurs a few nights prior and some major potential problems were revealed in that game.

Tonight, OKC is just showing up to take care of business. They don’t want to mess around with a close game against Orlando and should come out strong.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST.

Feb 12, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) is defended by Utah Jazz point guard Alec Burks (10) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 109-94. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder return home tonight to deal with the visiting Utah Jazz.

The Thunder and Jazz have played twice already this season and split the season series with the home team winning each time.

Most recently, the Jazz beat the Thunder 109-94 back on Feb. 12. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were both efficient in that game shooting the ball but turnovers and little scoring help elsewhere led to the doom of OKC.

The Thunder beat the Jazz before that back on Nov. 30. Durant had 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting while Westbrook was off the charts with 23 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, seven steals and eight turnovers.

Westbrook has turned it over 15 times in two games vs. Utah this year and would like to see that number go down tonight.

The Jazz make their living these days with their size up front. Utah will probably be without starting power forward Paul Millsap but they have plenty of depth to fill the void.

Enes Kanter in particular has come on strong for the struggling Jazz of late. He is the kind of player with a lot of talent and is you supplement that with confidence, you will start to see some serious growth.

The Thunder come into tonight coming off a very tough defeat at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs two nights ago. The Spurs won without Tony Parker and revealed some of the lingering issues that still plague the Thunder.

That game was a back-to-back though and on the road so tonight back at home and with a night’s rest, we should see the Thunder return to their winning form.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST and air nationally on ESPN.

Dec 17, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) attempts a shot against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha (2) and Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 1 spot in the Western Conference standings will be on tonight as the Oklahoma City Thunder hit the road to take on the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder are exactly one game behind the Spurs in the standings and the two teams have split their season series so far as well.

The Spurs beat the Thunder in their first game of the season back on Nov. 1. Tony Parker hit a game-winning jump shot at the buzzer to give the Spurs the 86-84 victory.

Kevin Durant had just 23 points in that game and Russell Westbrook scored 18 on 6-of-21 shooting.

The Thunder got their revenge on Dec. 17 with a 107-93 win in OKC. Durant was held to just 19 and Westbrook ended up with 22 on 6-for-18 shooting.

Serge Ibaka played one of the best games of his career scoring 25 points to go with 17 rebounds. Kevin Martin scored 20 off the bench on 7-of-10 shooting.

The Spurs are a different team than they have been for most of the season now because they are without Parker, who will miss the next three weeks or so with an injury.

The Thunder are hot right now having won their last five games but tonight will be a back-to-back for them. OKC beat Boston yesterday afternoon convincingly 91-79.

Even without Parker, the Spurs are a tough out. They will run the same offense despite his absence and are still very capable of getting many open shots throughout the night.

The Thunder will need to avoid a lackluster defensive effort to ensure a victory tonight. They’ll also like Westbrook to be better than a 30 percent shooter and for Durant to get closer to 30 as well.

The game will tip at 8:30 p.m. EST and be televised nationally on NBATV.

Nov 23, 2012; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce (34) drives the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) during the second half at the TD Garden. The Celtics defeated the Thunder 108-100. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be on the national stage again today as they host the Boston Celtics at 1 p.m. EST.

The Celtics beat the Thunder the first time they played back on Nov. 23.

Rajon Rondo led the way with six points and 16 assists in that game and will of course not be playing today as he is out for the year with a torn ACL.

Kevin Durant scored 29 to lead the Thunder and Russell Westbrook added 26. The Thunder bench scored just 13 total points while Kevin Martin had only three on 1-of-7 shooting.

Paul Pierce had 27 in that game and former Thunder Jeff Green scored 17 off the bench.

Green will be making his return to OKC today for the first time since being traded for Kendrick Perkins back on Feb. 24, 2011. Green has been playing well lately for the Celtics especially since the Rondo injury.

Despite losing Rondo, the Celtics have been playing well and are winners of seven of their last 10, the same record as the Thunder over their last 10.

Boston will hope for a slower paced game than the Thunder would like, with the score in the 90s to have their best chance of winning.

The Celtics are notoriously a poor offensive rebounding team so it will be imperative for the Thunder to not allow many second chance points today for Boston.

The Thunder had an easy 116-94 win over the Charlotte Bobcats in their last game. The bench got a lot of run in that game and played well overall.

OKC will need their bench to show up today, and they usually do at home, to ensure a victory over the Celtics.

The game will tip at 1 p.m. EST and air nationally on ABC.

Nov 26, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russelll Westbrook (0) is congratulated by Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) after a play against the Charlotte Bobcats during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will wrap up their season series with the Charlotte Bobcats tonight at 7 p.m. EST in Charlotte.

The Thunder destroyed the Bobcats the first time they played this season back on Nov. 26. OKC won 114-69 and led by 40 at halftime.

That game was really too crazy to try and take anything away from for this matchup. What we know is very clear and that is that the Thunder are on a completely different level than the Bobcats.

At this point in the season, OKC should dispose of Charlotte pretty quickly. The Thunder are playing a back-to-back, coming off a 95-94 win over the New York Knicks last night, but should still come out of the gates strong.

Russell Westbrook has been leading that charge lately as he leads the league in first quarter points per game since the All-Star Break. He had 15 of his 21 in the first quarter last night.

Kevin Durant scored 34 points in the Thunder’s win last night including the two game-winning free throws with a minute and a half left.

The Thunder have won six of their last seven games while the Bobcats have lost nine of their last 10.

One bright spot for the Bobcats lately has been rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist who has scored 17 points in each of his last two games on 16-of-24 shooting.

As long as the Thunder execute and knock down the open shots that they know they are going to get, they should have no problem winning tonight and allowing their starters to rest for the fourth quarter in the process.

Jan 14 2012; Oklahoma City OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (0) gets congratulated by shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha (2), power forward Serge Ibaka (9) and small forward Kevin Durant (35) against New York Knicks during the third quarter at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Richard Rowe-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will travel to take on the New York Knicks at 8 p.m. EST at Madison Square Garden.

This will be the first meeting this season between the two teams.

The big question coming in is the status of Caremlo Anthony who is currently listed as day-to-day with a knee injury. Anthony left early from New York’s game vs. Cleveland on Monday and did not play last night vs. the Detroit Pistons.

The Knicks have been playing well of late even without Anthony. They have won five of their last six games with the only loss coming to the Miami Heat.

New York comes into tonight with the third most efficient offense in the NBA behind only the Heat and the Thunder, who are first.

The Knicks are right in the middle of the pack when it comes to defense. They go small a lot but have some good perimeter defenders in Iman Shumpert and Jason Kidd that might be able to slow down Russell Westbrook somewhat.

Slowing down Kevin Durant is another story. Without Anthony, the Knicks will be in trouble trying to stop the leading scorer in the league right now.

The Knicks will have to win with great offense too. They will need to knock down threes and get good penetration from Raymond Felton. Then Tyson Chandler will need a big game on the offensive glass as well.

All of these things could happen but while the Thunder aren’t the best defense in the league, they have the athletes to make things like getting open three-point shots tougher to come by for a team like New York.

The Thunder have also won five of their last six and with the way Westbrook has been playing lately, it’s hard to imagine them losing to anyone.

Westbrook has been averaging 32.2 points, 5.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game over the Thunder’s last six games. Since the start of February, Westbrook has actually been scoring more than Durant.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST tonight and air nationally on TNT.

Jan 27, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant (24) moves the ball against the defense of Oklahoma City Thunder shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha (2) during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Los Angeles Lakers for the fourth time this season when they host them tonight at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The Thunder won the first two meetings this year fairly easily then dropped the third meeting 105-96 in Los Angeles back on Jan. 27.

Kevin Durant led the Thunder with 35 points in that game, shooting 10-for-26 from the field and 13-for-14 from the free throw line.

Russell Westbrook had a rough nigh scoring just 17 points on 6-for-22 shooting. He did have 13 assists.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 21 points to go along with 14 assists and nine rebounds.

Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins each had 10 points and Kevin Martin scored just nine off the bench.

Dwight Howard had just eight points and went 2-for-10 from the free throw line.

That was a rare poor game for the Thunder the last time they played as they allowed the Lakers to shoot 55.4 percent from the field. Kobe becoming a distributor while the Thunder defense was designed to take away his scoring is a big reason why that happened.

Kobe replicating that kind of game again with a ton of assists seems unlikely.

What seems more likely – especially with the game being played in Oklahoma City – is Westbrook having a much stronger showing than 6-for-22. Westbrook has been playing great basketball of late and shooting the ball very well. He has traditionally torched the Lakers in this matchup and will probably return to that form tonight.

You know you can also count on Durant to play well and the Thunder bigs not to allow Howard to have a big game. The Thunder could use more than nine points from Martin, who has been really struggling from the field the past two games.

The Lakers are playing maybe the best basketball they have all year. They’ve won their last two games and have won seven of their last 10.

The Thunder have been inconsistent lately but that usually still means they play and shoot well when in front of their home crowd.

The game will be televised nationally on TNT.

Jan 22, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers point guard Eric Bledsoe (12) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the game at the Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

The No. 2 spot in the Western Conference standings will be on the line this afternoon as the Los Angeles Clippers host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 3:30 p.m. EST.

This will be the third time this season that the Thunder and Clippers play. The Thunder won each of the first two meetings, once in OKC and once in LA.

The Thunder needed overtime to beat the Clippers 117-111 back on Nov. 21 in OKC. Kevin Durant had 35 points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals to lead the Thunder. KD went 7-for-19 from the field but also 19-for-21 from the free throw line.

Russell Westbrook had 23 in the game and Kevin Martin had 20 off the bench. The Thunder got a big lift from Hasheem Thabeet in that game who had 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting in 12 minutes.

The Thunder then won 109-97 on Jan. 22 in LA. Chris Paul did not play in that game so the Thunder had no problem winning.

Durant had 32 and Westbrook had 26. Serge Ibaka and Martin combined for 30.

The Clippers will be at full strength this afternoon and have won eight of their last nine games since Paul returned from injury with an average margin of victory of 15.5 points.

The Thunder had a three-game winning streak snapped two nights ago when they lost 105-103 in Denver on a last-second shot by Ty Lawson.

The Thunder have been going through an interesting stretch lately where all of their wins have been blowouts and they have been losing most of their close games.

The Thunder have been shaky on the road this season, especially lately. They often end up turning into a two-man show with Durant and Westbrook doing all the scoring while the role players shy away.

Martin only had three points Friday night vs. Denver and will definitely need to give the Thunder more today if they expect to beat the Clippers.

Thabo Sefolosha will also be very important in this game as he will likely have the assignment of checking Paul for most of the game. This will leave Westbrook to play the passing lanes off the ball quite a bit which he has been great at this season.

Beating the Clippers all starts with shutting down or at least slowing down Paul. The Thunder have been able to do this in the past but they have also been dominated by Paul as well.

OKC is really in need of a statement win at this point in the season and beating the Clippers on national television would certainly qualify as that.

January 20, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durrant (35) drives to the basket against Denver Nuggets forward Corey Brewer (13) during the overtime period at the Pepsi Center. The Nuggets won 121-118 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Denver Nuggets for the third time this season tonight at the Pepsi Center at 10:30 p.m. EST.

The Thunder and Nuggets have split their season series so far this year with the home team winning each time.

The Thunder played one of their best games of the year back on Jan. 16 when they beat the Nuggets 117-97 in OKC.

Kevin Durant had 20 points in that game but it was Russell Westbrook who dominated the most with a game-high 32. Kevin Martin chipped in with 20 off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting.

The Thunder would lose the next time they played Denver 121-118 in overtime in Denver.

Durant had 37 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in the game but went just 7-for-20 from the field. He did go 20-for-21 from the foul line.

Westbrook had 36 to go with nine dimes and eight boards. He went 10-for-26 from the field and 15-for-17 from the free throw line.

Denver got back to their bread and butter in that game with 20 offensive rebounds and 66 points in the paint. Corey Brewer led the team with 26 off the bench.

It’s a big game tonight for the Thunder who would like to keep up the positive momentum they’ve been having lately. The Thunder won their last three games (all at home) by an average of 30.3 points. This all coming after the Thunder had their longest losing streak of the season of three games.

Denver has been one of the best teams in the league of late and that is only amplified when they play at home where they are 24-3 on the year.

They’re going to want to get up and down and do so early on. If the Thunder aren’t hitting early and can’t get back on defense, they may find themselves in a hole quickly.

Westbrook will be the key early on. He will surely be aggressive from the start since he has been shooting so well recently. Even though Ty Lawson is quick, Westbrook does not see him as any kind of threat to defend him so Westbrook will definitely be shooting early and often.

The Thunder have been getting good games from role players recently too. They will definitely need Martin and/or Serge Ibaka to step up tonight, which they do less frequently when on the road.

The game will tip-off at 10:30 p.m. EST tonight and air nationally on ESPN.

Dec 12, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) dribbles around New Orleans Hornets power forward Anthony Davis (23) during the game at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City won 92-88. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look for their third straight win tonight as they host the New Orleans Hornets at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder ended a three-game skid with a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves at home last Friday. Then the Thunder dismantled the Chicago Bulls 102-72 on Sunday night.

The Thunder have played the Hornets three times already this season and won each time.

Kevin Durant is averaging 27.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 60.0 percent from the field vs. New Orleans this season.

Russell Westbrook has been on the opposite end averaging just 14.0 points on 34.9 percent field goal shooting vs. the Hornets this season. He is also averaging 10.3 assists per game, however.

Kevin Martin is averaging 21.0 points per game in the season series vs. the Hornets and is shooting 45.0 percent from beyond the arc.

The Hornets have won half of their last 10 games but just once in their last five.

To make matters worse tonight, New Orleans will be without two starters as Anthony Davis misses the game with a left shoulder sprain and Eric Gordon will sit because this is the second game in two nights for them.

New Orleans is second last in the league in pace and coming off a game last night when they played the slowest paced team in the Brooklyn Nets. Keeping up with the high-powered Thunder will be no easy task for New Orleans tonight.

The Thunder have been off the last two days as well and have looked good in their past two games. There is no reason to believe tonight won’t be another blowout victory for OKC.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST.

Feb 17, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Eastern Conference forward Luol Deng (9) of the Chicago Bulls drives past Western Conference guard Russell Westbrook (0) of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the fourth quarter of the 2013 NBA all star game at the Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look for their second win in a row tonight as they host the Chicago Bulls at 9:30 p.m. EST.

The Thunder ended a three-game losing streak with a 127-111 win at home over the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night.

This will be the second time this season that the Thunder play the Bulls. They beat them 97-91 in Chicago back on Nov. 8.

Kevin Durant led the way with 22 in that game and Russell Westbrook had 16 points and 12 assists. Serge Ibaka had a big game with 21 points, nine boards and four blocks.

That game was a long time ago and both teams are playing differently nowadays.

The Bulls remain one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference even without Derrick Rose, who still isn’t back from his injury.

Chicago has the fourth best defensive efficiency rating in the league but are just 24th on the offensive end.

The Thunder have dropped to second overall in offensive efficiency behind only the Miami Heat. OKC is eighth in defensive efficiency.

The Bulls are also the third best team in the league at hitting the offensive glass. OKC is sometimes susceptible to allowing their opponents to get a bunch of offensive rebounds but they won’t be able to do that and win tonight.

The Bulls pride themselves on defense, rebounding and not turning the ball over. It’s really a clash of styles tonight.

It will take an off-shooting night for the Thunder for the Bulls to really have a chance, something that is more plausible than usual because of Chicago’s stout defense.

Durant has been in playmaking mode of late while Westbrook is coming off a great shooting night. Durant will have to be careful not to turn the ball over too much trying some of the passes that have been working for him recently.

Westbrook will need to settle down a little too especially when it comes to attacking the paint.

If the Thunder are able to bring it on the defensive end then they should have no trouble pulling this one out.

Ronnie Brewer will not be making his season debut for the Thunder tonight and will likely play his first game for OKC Wednesday night.

The game will air nationally on ESPN at 9:30 p.m. EST.

Jan 9, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic(14) handles the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Nick Collison (4) and Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to end their three-game losing streak tonight as they take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at home tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

The Thunder lost two in a row for just the second time this season entering the All-Star Break and then lost on the road to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

The Thunder have split the season series with the Timberwolves so far this year winning at home and losing on the road.

Kevin Love played in the first meeting in Minnesota back on Dec. 20. He had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as the Timberwolves won 99-93.

The Thunder shot just 40.2 percent from the field in that game. Kevin Durant scored 33 and Russell Westbrook had 30 in the loss. Kevin Martin did not play.

The Thunder blew out the Timberwolves 106-84 the next time they played on Jan. 9 in OKC. Durant had 26 and Westbrook 23 in the win. Martin had 19 off the bench.

That game was one of Ricky Rubio’s first of the year and he didn’t score but did have seven assists.

The Timberwolves have only won three of their last seven games and things aren’t exactly looking up for them the rest of this season.

Love isn’t coming back for a long time and winning on the road – especially in OKC – seems pretty impossible at this point.

The Thunder are hungry for a win since they haven’t had one in what seems like forever. Their last two losses have been embarrassing in a sense as well.

The Thunder made a few trades at the deadline yesterday sending Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers and acquiring Ronnie Brewer from the New York Knicks.

We might get a chance to see Brewer play for the first time tonight. Expect him to take some of Thabo Sefolosha’s minutes at the end of the first quarter and start of the second.

Tonight should be a blowout. The Thunder need one and nothing says Minnesota is going to put up much of a fight.

Nov 28, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden (13) and Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) look at the scoreboard during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Oklahoma City won 120-98. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be back from All-Star Break for the first time tonight, on the road vs. the Houston Rockets.

This will be the third meeting between the Thunder and Rockets this season.

The Thunder beat the Rockets at Chesapeake Energy Arena 120-98 back on Nov. 28. That was the first game James Harden returned to OKC in another uniform and he really struggled shooting just 3-for-16 from the field and scoring 17 points.

Kevin Durant had 37 points, Serge Ibaka had 23 and Kevin Martin scored 17 off the bench.

The Thunder won again in Houston 124-94 on Dec. 29. Harden had 25 in that game but again struggled from the field going just 6-for-17.

Russell Westbrook had 28 to lead OKC. Durant had 26 and Martin again scored 17.

The Rockets steal wins against teams who aren’t ready to play their style. They can knock down a down of threes and push the tempo to an uncomfortable pace for a lot of teams.

The Thunder are always up for this game because of Harden. That feeling may be softened tonight since they’ve blown out Houston the first two games.

The Thunder will be without starting center Kendrick Perkins tonight who is out with a knee. Perkins has been the subject of some trade rumors lately so him missing this game seemed suspicious considering the deadline is tomorrow.

The trio of Durant, Westbrook and Harden were reunited on the same team for the first time since the trade at All-Star Weekend a few days ago in Houston. The Western Conference won that game and those three shared the floor together for a few minutes.

The Thunder came into the All-Star Break second in the Western Conference behind the San Antonio Spurs. OKC will be looking to finish the season strong and capture that No. 1 seed.

Tonight is the first step.

Dec. 25, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) looks to pass as Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) applies pressure during the second half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

You can win as many games as you want but if you lose against this team, it means nothing.

That seems to be the feeling with the Oklahoma City Thunder this year and their matchup with the Miami Heat. It’s great having the second best record in the NBA but if they can’t beat the Heat then what’s the difference.

The Thunder get their second chance this season to exact revenge against the Heat who took them down in five games in the NBA Finals a season ago.

The Thunder and Heat first met this season on Christmas Day in South Beach. Miami took that contest 103-97 behind 29 points, nine assists and eight rebounds by LeBron James.

Kevin Durant had 33 points and seven rebounds in that game and Russell Westbrook had 21 points but just three assists and shot 5-for-19 from the field.

The Thunder got 15 points each from Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin but little else as the Heat led for most of the game.

It was the same script that haunted the Thunder in the Finals last year. They stopped having great ball movement, turned the ball over and reverted back to isolation basketball.

That’s not how you beat the Heat and that’s not how the Thunder have played for much of the year.

The feeling is still that the Thunder have control of their destiny when playing the Heat. LeBron and Dwyane Wade can get theirs and the Thunder are still capable of beating them. They just can’t beat themselves.

The Heat aren’t starting the same small ball lineups that killed OKC in the Finals last year but they will still more than likely go to that look quite a bit.

The Thunder will try to survive will Kendrick Perkins is on the floor although he has been playing better lately. He’s actually scoring a little bit and should be able to at least get some offensive rebounds against the smaller Heat frontline.

Falling behind early has been a bad trend for the Thunder vs. Miami too. This allows Miami to play totally in their comfort zone and makes the Thunder panic to come back.

Westbrook needs to be calm and cool and there’s a better chance he’s that way playing in front of his home crowd. The role players need to make shots for OKC too and again that happens more often in the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

All eyes will be on LeBron and Durant but their head-to-head play may not decide the outcome. Both have been able to put up big numbers in these games with neither really pulling away from the either.

The edge LeBron still carries over Durant is the one that makes the Heat so tough for the Thunder. He makes his teammates better just a little more than Durant does. Durant is making strides to become this way but still isn’t on the level of the King.

An MVP award may very well be on the line tonight. The decision to make a trade at the deadline may also be determined depending on tonight.

This won’t be just a regular season game. It’s an NBA Finals rematch and possibly an NBA Finals preview as well.

Nov 30, 2012; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) handles the ball against Utah Jazz forward DeMarre Carroll (3) during the second half at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder head on the road tonight against the Utah Jazz after a very successful 4-0 week in which they were able to rest their starters in the fourth quarter of each game.

The Thunder easily handled the Jazz the first tie they played this season back on Nov. 30 in Oklahoma City.

OKC won that game 106-94 while shooting 52.0 percent from the field and getting to the free throw line 33 times.

The Jazz had 21 offensive rebounds in the game but the hot shooting of the Thunder was too much to overcome.

Kevin Durant had 25 points but it was Russell Westbrook with the most impressive stat line.

Westbrook flirted with a quadruple-double with 23 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and seven steals. Westbrook shot 6-for-18 from the field and turned the ball over eight times but he still dominated the game.

The Thunder also had Kendrick Perkins and Serge Ibaka in double-figures with 12 points apiece and got 19 points from Kevin Martin off the bench.

There was a clear separation in terms of athletic ability in the game mostly highlighted by the 14 blocks by the Thunder, all of which came from Durant, Perkins and Ibaka leading the way with seven.

The Thunder are as hot as ever right now while the Jazz are stumbling only winning half of their last 10 and losing their last two.

There are also trade rumors looming over the head of this team which is expected to deal one of their big men before the Feb. 21 deadline.

There is still no denying that playing and winning in Utah is always a tough task. The Thunder won’t be able to walk into that arena and experience the same success they did in Phoenix two nights ago.

When a team like Utah is unable to make shot-making difficult for the Thunder, it’s hard to imagine them losing. In that case, the Thunder should expect to win tonight and win big.

Martin missed the last game with the flu and his status for tonight is still uncertain. The Thunder bench has done a fine job this past week stepping up although they accounted for just three points in the first three quarters of their last game.

The game is set to tip at 9 p.m. EST tonight.

Feb 8, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Phoenix Suns forward Shannon Brown (26) attempts a shot against Oklahoma City Thunder center Kendrick Perkins (5) and Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Phoenix Suns for the second straight time tonight at Phoenix at 8 p.m. EST.

The Thunder played the Suns in their last game back at home on Friday night and beat them 127-96.

Kevin Durant had 21 points in the game and Russell Westbrook had 17. The big surprise was Kendrick Perkins scoring 17 points and grabbing nine rebounds and Thabo Seoflosha going for 18 points.

The Thunder bench was fantastic in the win too. They accounted for 45 points with Kevin Martin leading the way with 16. Martin made three three-pointers for the fifth straight game Friday night.

The only one who really had anything going for the Suns was Michael Beasley who scored 25 points off the bench.

The Thunder outscored the Suns 72-46 in the second half.

The Thunder will look to sweep their season series with the Suns tonight having beaten them in each of the first three meetings.

The Thunder are a tough matchup for everyone but in particular the Suns who are just overwhelmed so much by the athletes on OKC to muster much of a challenge.

It’s more a question of which Thunder player will go off tonight that whether the Thunder will win or not.

With this one on the road, expect it to be Durant or Westbrook. The rest of the team really drops off away from home while those two are studs no matter where they lace them up.

It’s an interesting dynamic playing a team twice in a row. Usually, you could see the script reversing in the second meeting but the Thunder won so easily on Friday night, you still have to think they win this one too.

The Thunder finished their three-game home stand Friday night scoring 119.3 points per game and allowing just 95.0 points per game.

The Thunder are just a half game back of the San Antonio Spurs for the best record in the league headed into tonight. San Antonio will also play tonight as they travel to play the Brooklyn Nets also at 8 p.m. EST.

Feb 6, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) reacts to play by his teammates in action the Golden State Warriors during the second half at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to win their third straight game tonight as they host the Phoenix Suns at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder have already beaten the Suns twice this season. They won 114-96 back on Dec. 31 in OKC then 102-90 in Phoenix on Jan. 14.

In the first meeting it was Russell Westbrook who went off for 24 points, nine assists and seven rebounds while Kevin Durant added 30.

Durant went for 41 in the second game and Westbrook 36.

When you allow both Durant and Westbrook to go off like that, it’s usually not a good sign. The Suns simply don’t have the fire power to keep up with the elite talent that OKC has.

The Suns haven’t been able to force the Thunder into anything so far this season. OKC had just five turnovers against them in the first meeting and 14 in the second. The Thunder basically get to do whatever they want.

The Thunder come into this game coming off two emphatic wins at home against the Dallas Mavericks and Golden State Warriors. The likelihood of them not carrying this momentum into tonight is very slim.

The Thunder have been clicking on all cylinders of late. Serge Ibaka is getting back to scoring in double-figures on a nightly basis and Kevin Martin has made three three-pointers in each of the last three games.

The game will tip tonight at 8 p.m. EST.

January 23, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) attempts to drive past Golden State Warriors forward Carl Landry (7) in the fourth quarter at ORACLE Arena. The Warriors defeated the Thunder 104-99. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play the Golden State Warriors for the third time this season tonight at the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder and Warriors have split their season series so far with the home team winning each game.

The Thunder beat the Warriors back on Nov. 18 119-109. Kevin Durant had his first career triple-double in that game with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists.

The Thunder were also led by Russell Westbrook who scored 30 points and Kevin Martin who had 23 off the bench.

The Warriors then beat the Thunder on Jan. 23 104-99. The Thunder ran out of gas in that game as they were outscored 28-20 in the fourth quarter.

Durant had 33 points and nine assists in the game and Westbrook had probably his worst game of the year with 10 points on 3-for-16 shooting.

The Warriors had nearly all of their points scored by four players. Stephen Curry led the way with 31, David Lee had 22, Klay Thompson 19 and Carl Landry scored 20 off the bench.

The Thunder have historically dominated the Warriors in the Durant era. And Durant in particular dominates them which has also been the case this season.

The Thunder are the better team and the only thing that held them back the last game was Westbrook’s awful night. If he improves on that and has his normal kind of game, the Thunder should be able to win easily.

The Warriors are also playing a road back-to-back tonight having lost at Houston last night. They gave up 140 points and an NBA record 23 three-pointers in that game. The Warriors were visibly embarrassed at the end of the game and may have a chip on their shoulder for tonight.

The Thunder likely won’t see Andrew Bogut tonight who has returned from injury but isn’t playing in back-to-backs at the moment.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Dallas Mavericks for the third time this season tonight at 8 p.m. EST at Chesapeake Arena.

The Thunder beat the Mavericks in each of the first two meeting but needed overtime both times to do so.

On Dec. 27, the Thunder won 111-105 in OKC. The game went into overtime thanks to a desperation 3-pointer by Darren Collison as time expired in regulation.

Kevin Durant had 40 points, eight rebounds and five assists in that game. He went 13-for-28 from the field, 4-for-8 from three and 10-for-10 from the line. He didn’t score in overtime however.

Russell Westbrook had 16 points and 10 assists. He went just 7-for-20 from the field but scored eight points in overtime.

Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin each had nice games as well. Ibaka had 19 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks and Martin had 18 off the bench.

Collison dominated for Dallas with 32 points in the game. Dirk Nowitzki did not play.

OKC won again 117-114 on Jan. 18 in Dallas. Durant had a career-high 52 points in the game as he shot 13-for-31 from the field and 21-for-21 from the free throw line.

Westbrook 31 points, six assists and six rebounds. Ibaka and Martin each scored 11.

The Mavs were led by Vince Carter who came off the bench to score 29 points on that night.

The Thunder are looking to bounce back from a loss tonight after losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road two nights ago. They were torched by Kyrie Irving who scored 35 points with 13 of them coming in the final three minutes in that game.

The Thunder haven’t won back-to-back games since they beat Dallas on Jan. 18.

Durant injured his ribs in the Cleveland game and was questionable tonight but he has come out and said that he will start tonight.

Dallas has won two of their last five games with both wins coming against the Phoenix Suns. Nowitzki missed the last two games but is expected to return tonight as well.

The Thunder are 20-3 at home this season while the Mavericks are just 8-18 on the road.

The Thunder have lost back-to-back games just once so far this season and they certainly won’t plan to do so again tonight as they begin a 3-game home stand.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder are back on the road again tonight vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers.

This is the second time this season the Thunder will play the Cavaliers. They beat them 106-91 in Oklahoma City back on Nov. 11.

Russell Westbrook had 27 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and four steals in that game while Cleveland’s All-Star point guard had 20 points and five assists.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points to go with eight boards in that win. Serge Ibaka scored 14 and Kevin Martin had 16. Kendrick Perkins had a big game with 10 points.

The Thunder shot 54.8 percent from the field that night which is very concerning for the Cavaliers who have allowed 53.9 percent by their opponents in their last two games, which have both been losses.

Irving scored just 14 points in each of the Cavaliers’ last two games after averaging 35.7 points per game in the previous three which were all won by the Cavs.

The Thunder won their last game back on Thursday night at home vs. the Memphis Grizzlies on national television. Despite the win, Westbrook’s outburst was the only thing anyone wanted to talk about afterward.

All eyes will definitely be on the point guard matchup tonight to see how Westbrook plays following his outburst and if Irving can go odd and keep the Cavs in the game.

The Cavs have lost Anderson Varejao for the season which is a big blow to their team. They recently acquired Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Josh Selby in a trade with the Grizzlies.

Cleveland comes in the game with the 27th ranked offense and 28th ranked defense. The Thunder are first in the league in offense and seventh in defense.

This is not a good matchup for Cleveland and they will certainly need a huge game from Irving to compete.

The game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. EST tonight.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder return home tonight to host the Memphis Grizzlies after playing nine of their last 10 games on the road.

The Thunder made out pretty well winning seven of those 10 games but were 3-3 in their last six, all of which were on the road.

The Grizzlies come into tonight just having made one of the biggest trades of the year sending Rudy Gay to the Toronto Raptors in part of a three-team trade. Memphis acquired Tayshaun Prince, Ed Davis and Austin Daye in the trade.

It is unlikely that any of the new members of the Grizzlies will play tonight however.

Memphis is looking to go back to the team that made a run in the playoffs two seasons ago behind Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol and a bunch of role players. They’re already seeing some promise off the bench from Jerryd Bayless who had 21 points in the Grizzlies’ last game.

The Grizzlies beat the Thunder earlier this year the first time they played 107-97 in OKC back on Nov. 14.

The Thunder shot 48.6 percent in that game but Memphis shot 47.3 percent, got 12 offensive rebounds and turned the ball over just eight times. Gay led Memphis with 28 points while Randolph had 20 and 11.

Memphis’ bench was crucial in the win with Wayne Ellington coming in and scoring 12 points and Quincy Pondexter 13. Ellington was traded earlier this season to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with Marreese Speights and Josh Selby.

Kevin Durant had a great game for the Thunder in the loss scoring 34 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists. Russell Westbrook had 17 points and 13 assists but shot 6-for-19 from the field.

Serge Ibaka had a nice game with 17 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. The Thunder really missed Kevin Martin in that game as he scored only seven points on 1-for-4 shooting from the field.

The Thunder are well rested coming into tonight having played their last game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers. OKC will be happy to be back home where they are 19-3 on the year.

It will be tough for the Grizzlies to keep up with the top-rated Thunder offense tonight, especially after losing their leading scorer. Memphis has just the 21st ranked offense in the NBA this season.

Memphis has the second best defense however and will hope to control the boards, not turn the ball over and play a slower paced game to get by the Thunder.

The game will tip at 8 p.m. EST tonight and air nationally on TNT.

Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will finish their 6-game road trip this afternoon as they take on the Los Angeles Lakers in Staples Center.

The Thunder are 3-2 on their road trip so far with Kevin Durant averaging 35.6 points per game during the trip.

This is the third time this season that the Thunder will play the Lakers. OKC won the first two meetings, 114-108 in OKC on Dec. 7 then 116-101 in LA on Jan. 11.

Durant had 36 points in the first meeting and then 42 in the second as the Thunder blew out the Lakers in LA and hardly needed Durant in the fourth quarter.

Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol didn’t play in the second meeting leaving Kobe Bryant alone to go for 28 points on 8-of-23 shooting. Kobe was much better in the first meeting scoring 35 points on 11-of-24 shooting.

The real thorn in the Lakers’ side against the Thunder has been Russell Westbrook. Westbrook had 33 points then 27 against the Lakers so far this season as he continues to always play some of his best basketball when returning to his home state.

The Lakers simply cannot match up with Westbrook’s athleticism and he goes and gets any shot he wants.

The Lakers lost four in a row before winning their last game at home against Utah.

Mike D’Antoni is continuing to bring Gasol off the bench and start Earl Clark at power forward, insisting that Gasol and Howard together is not best for this team right now.

To have a chance today, the Lakers will need big games from both of their big men. One area they could have an advantage against the Thunder is dominating the glass. OKC is sometimes susceptible to giving up offense rebounds and then settling for too many jumpers on the other end.

The Thunder and Lakers are on two totally different spectrums right now. OKC has the best record in the league and looks like the best team in the league while the Lakers are a total mess.

There’s too much that needs to go right for LA to win today, especially knowing that Westbrook always plays well against the Lakers and the Thunder barely ever lose when he is going off.

The game will tip at 3:30 p.m. EST and air nationally on ABC.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to bounce back from a loss for just the 10th time this season. In the previous nine instances, they won eight times.

The Thunder are on the road for the fifth straight game tonight vs. the Sacramento Kings who aren’t exactly the toughest competition out there. Sacramento has lost two straight coming into tonight and have won three of their last 10 games.

The Thunder’s loss two nights ago at Golden State came in spite of a huge effort from Kevin Durant in which he had 33 points and nine assists. Durant and the Thunder were unable to get much offense down the stretch however. Maybe it was the fact that it was their second game in two nights or that Durant was doubled on every touch and shots from role players simply weren’t falling.

Either way, the Thunder don’t like losing twice in a row. Only the Miami Heat made them do that this season.

The Kings come into the game giving up more points per 100 possessions than any team in the league. And they are playing the team that scores more points per 100 possessions than any team in the league. That is a big disadvantage and why the Thunder should easily roll to a victory tonight.

This will be the second meeting between these two teams this season. Oklahoma City won at home back on Dec. 14 113-103.

Durant had 31 points on 10-of-14 shooting in that game. Russell Westbrook had 13 points and 13 assists and Kevin Martin and Serge Ibaka each scored 18 points.

The Thunder shot 49.4 percent from the field for the game and got 14 offensive rebounds. If they come close to replicating that tonight, the Kings will have no chance.

DeMarcus Cousins was held to just 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting in the first meeting. Isaiah Thomas was a huge spark off the bench scoring 26 points and forcing the Thunder starters to return to the game late in the fourth after they had thought the game was in hand.

It’s never easy to win on the road in this league but then again it’s never difficult to beat the Kings. Coming off a loss, OKC isn’t likely to mail it in tonight and they should be well on their way to their 34th win of the season.

Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder face the difficult challenge of playing back-to-back road games on the west coast tonight as they take on the Golden State Warriors after playing the Los Angeles Clippers last night.

This is the second time this season that the Thunder will play the Warriors. The Thunder won the first meeting back on Nov. 18 in OKC 119-109.

Kevin Durant recorded his first career triple-double in that game with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Russell Westbrook had 30 points and Kevin Martin poured in 23 off the bench.

Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 22 points and David Lee had 19. Klay Thompson scored just four points on 2-of-8 shooting in the game.

The Thunder made 13 threes in that game and made a franchise-record 15 last night against the Clippers. Durant shot extremely well last night and so did Martin which is the kind of momentum OKC wants to carry into Golden State.

The Warriors also beat the Clippers in their last game and have actually beaten the Clippers three out of four times so far this season.

Golden State is just 5-5 in their last 10 games but has won its last two. Andrew Bogut still hasn’t returned to the lineup but Curry is back from a recent ankle scare.

The Thunder traditionally have no problem beating the Warriors. The faster pace only enhances the abilities of Durant and Westbrook and the Warriors can’t keep up.

Despite the great start to this season, OKC simply has Golden State’s number. Tonight will be tougher than usual since it is a back-to-back for the Thunder but this has always been a great matchup for them.

The game will tip at 10:30 p.m. EST and air on NBATV.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look to rebound from a loss in their last game on the road vs. the Denver Nuggets on the road again tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers.

It’s the second time this season that the Thunder and Clippers will meet up. The Thunder won the first meeting 117-111 in overtime on Nov. 21 in Oklahoma City.

Kevin Durant had 35 points in that game and Russell Westbrook had 23 points. Kevin Martin was big off the bench going for 20 and Hasheem Thabeet also added 10 points.

Chris Paul had just nine points and nine assists for the Clippers on 2-of-14 shooting. Blake Griffin led the way with 23 and Jamal Crawford had 20 off the bench.

The Thunder and Clippers are both top five offenses and defenses in the league this season. In this particular matchup against each other, it is very even as well.

The Clippers generate most of their offense from the pick-and-roll but the Thunder have the top defense in the league against the pick-and-roll.

The Clippers have turned up the tempo this season and are 9th in the NBA scoring in transition but would still probably be better off in a slowed down game against the Thunder.

The Thunder have the best offense in the league and their stars, Durant and Westbrook, have been playing at a very high level lately. Durant has been named the Western Conference Player of the Week in each of the last two weeks and the Clippers don’t really have anyone who can match up with him.

Durant has shot 21 free throws in each of the last two games and made all but one of them. Durant also attempted 21 free throws in the first meeting against the Clippers this season so expect to see a lot of his shoulder shimmy charity trips tonight.

Westbrook traditionally plays poor when matched up against Paul and on the road tonight will be one of the biggest challenges all year for him. The Thunder played Thabo Sefolosha on Paul for much of the first meeting and it obviously worked well. We will see if Paul can figure Sefolosha out at home tonight.

The real strength of the Clippers this season has been their depth. They have a number of players that can step up on any given night and at home, that chance is always greater.

Great teams always win at home and the challenge for the Thunder tonight is making the Clippers not look so great.

The Thunder have lost two games in a row just once this season. They are coming off overtime games in each of their last two games which have also been on the road.

The odds are usually in the favor of the Thunder but tonight they may not be.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets will play the second of four meetings this season tonight at 8 p.m. EST at the Pepsi Center.

The Thunder won the first meeting just four days ago in Oklahoma City 117-97. That game was one of the Thunder’s best complete games of the year as they blew out the Nuggets from the tip.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with 32 points on 12-of-20 shooting. Westbrook scored 16 of his points in the first quarter as his pull-up jumper was on point.

Kevin Durant scored 20 points and also had five steals in the game. Kevin Martin scored 20 points off the bench on 8-of-12 shooting.

The Thunder shot 51.8 percent from the field as a team and got 15 offensive rebounds.

Denver wasn’t horrible shooting 45.2 percent from the field but went just 2-for-15 from downtown. They also only had 11 offensive rebounds despite being the best offensive rebounding team in the league in terms of offensive rebound rate.

Ty Lawson only played 20 minutes in the game and went 1-of-4 from the field. Danilo Gallinari went 3-for-10 from the field and scored just 11 points.

The lone bright spot for the Nuggets was the play of their centers Kosta Koufos and JaVale McGee who combined to shoot 11-for-12 from the field and score 31 points.

The Thunder have won their last six games will the Nuggets have dropped their last two, vs. OKC then two nights ago at home to the Washington Wizards.

OKC has been playing at a very high level led by Durant who scored a career-high 52 points in the Thunder’s last game, an overtime win on the road vs. the Dallas Mavericks. Durant’s previous career-high was 51 points which he scored in an overtime victory vs. the Denver Nuggets last season.

Playing in Denver is tougher than playing in Oklahoma City. The altitude is a factor and especially while on a road trip it can get the best of you. The Nuggets are 15-3 at home this season.

Martin has not shot well on the road either this year and that fact may be amplified tonight in Denver.

Another player that needs to step up for the Thunder during this road trip is Serge Ibaka. Ibaka has only averaged 7.0 points per game over his last four games. He only scored five points in 27 minutes vs. the Nuggets last week.

Tonight’s game promises to be closer than the one between these teams last week was. The Thunder have been playing at a very high level lately though while the Nuggets haven’t so OKC should still be able to pull this one out.

Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will look for its sixth straight victory tonight taking on the Dallas Mavericks on the road at 9:30 p.m. EST.

This is the second time the Thunder and Mavericks will play this season. In the first meeting, the Thunder won in OKC 111-105 in an overtime thriller.

Darren Collison made a very improbable 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into OT. Collison led Dallas with 32 points in the game as he absolutely torched his former college teammate Russell Westbrook in the pick-and-roll.

Westbrook struggled mightily in regulation of that game scoring just eight points. Then he took over in overtime scoring eight more points to lead the Thunder to victory.

Kevin Durant far from struggled as he scored 40 points (all in regulation) on 13-of-28 shooting from the field.

Serge Ibaka had a big game as well for the Thunder with 19 points, 17 rebounds (eight offensive) and five blocks.

The Thunder trailed for almost the entire game and were down by eight entering the fourth quarter before Durant took over. Dallas stayed out in front thanks to some hot shooting from beyond the arc as they made 11-of-24 threes in the game.

The Mavericks had Dirk Nowitzki for that game but he came off the bench and only played 26 minutes. Dirk has been getting more minutes lately and should be a bigger factor tonight.

The Mavericks fell into a slump following the first game vs. the Thunder losing six of their next seven but have since reeled off four straight wins.

Dallas will need more from O.J. Mayo to seriously compete with the Thunder tonight. Mayo has been having a great season but has had some struggles of late, including shooting just 1-of-7 from the field vs. the Thunder.

OKC has been dealing with some injuries recently but is now back to full strength. The defense has been better than it was the first time they played Dallas so don’t expect the same kind of game from Collison.

The game will tip-off at 9:30 p.m. EST and broadcast nationally on ESPN.