Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

It was close after one quarter and memories of last night were fresh in everyone’s mind. But it was the second unit led by James Harden that helped the Thunder pull away for a 122-95 win over the Charlotte Bobcats Saturday night.

Harden scored a career-high 33 points in 27 minutes and making four three-pointers. Kevin Durant scored 26 and Russell Westbrook 23 as the trio combined to go 29-of-42 from the field.

The Thunder as a team shot 63 percent from the field and made 10 three-pointers on the night. They only needed six offensive rebounds and had 27 assists in the win.

Harden was the story tonight as Charlotte had no answer for anything he did. Harden got to any spot he wanted all night.

The Thunder improve to 32-9 on the year and 18-2 at home. They will play Houston (22-19) after two days off Tuesday.

Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE

Thunder (1-game losing streak)
106.0 Offensive Efficiency (2nd)
99.3 Defensive Efficiency (11th)
96.1 Pace (5th)
56.6 True Shooting % (2nd)
51.3 Rebound Rate (5th)

Bobcats (2-game losing streak)
92.3 Offensive Efficiency (last)
106.8 Defensive Efficiency (29th)
93.7 Pace (18th)
48.2 True Shooting % (last)
46.6 Rebound Rate (last)

Last night was a letdown game for the Thunder. Cleveland has actually been better than expected on the road this season and showed how last night.

It gets easier for the Thunder tonight though. The Charlotte Bobcats are clearly the worst team in the league this season and the Thunder are still at home.

The Bobcats come in last in offensive efficiency, true shooting percentage and rebound rate and second-to-last in defensive efficiency. The Thunder of course tread around the top in all of these categories.

There’s no rhyme or reason for Charlotte winning tonight. The only possibility would have been a potential letdown game but with the Thunder losing last night, that is also unlikely.

Corey Maggette has been a bright spot for Charlotte lately averaging 24 and seven in his last four games.

Bismack Biyombo has also been playing well of late and the matchup between him and Serge Ibaka will be interesting.

Russell Westbrook only scored 19 points last night and will surely look to go off tonight. No one on Charlotte can hang with him so he should be able to get his.

One big issue for the Thunder last night was shooting less free throws than the Cavaliers. That is surprising and definitely can’t happen tonight.

The line for this game is Oklahoma City by 16.5. That’s how lopsided this matchup is and while I don’t necessarily think it will be that kind of blowout, winning tonight will come as easy as ever for the Thunder this season.