BREAKING: OKC Thunder will rest Anthony, Brewer will dress

OKC Thunder tip off versus the Portland Trail Blazers without the services of Carmelo Anthony, and new signee Corey Brewer will dress.

The big news is Carmelo Anthony will sit for rest. Am I the only one wondering why Donovan and Anthony would elect to rest Melo in a game of such importance?

Seriously! This game is about as important as any the OKC Thunder have played this season. After last night’s games the Portland Trail Blazers moved into third in the Western Conference. The OKC Thunder by virtue of their battle in the desert moved into the fifth seed.

Russell Westbrook played 40 minutes and will no doubt be tired. Even Russ gets tired Thunder Nation. So, why on earth would Carmelo Anthony be resting?

Rest on the biggest game so far this season?

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• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Factor in the Blazers have beat the Thunder twice already this season. This means another loss tonight would give Portland the tie break at end of season should it come down to that.

And, let’s not ignore the elephant in the room — if the Thunder beat the Blazers (and depending on what the Spurs do tonight) the Thunder could jump all the way into third place. At the very least a win by OKC would move them into a home court position regardless of what the other teams do.

I’m just at a loss here. Perhaps Anthony is hurt and the team doesn’t want to tell others. But, to rest one of your highest paid players in essential the most important game so far this season is inane.

Then again, perhaps this is an opportunity for Donovan to test out the idea Lawrence George suggested (although Anthony was part of that equation) to start Patrick Patterson. This is the logical move as Patterson has taken this role on two previous occasions.

Brewer will dress:

It wasn’t a big secret the OKC Thunder would sign Corey Brewer following his buyout from the Lakers. What is news is how quickly he cleared the paperwork and medicals which makes him eligible to play tonight.

In the pregame shoot around Billy Donovan said Corey Brewer will be dressed, but didn’t commit to him playing this evening.

Donovan is extremely familiar with Brewer having coached him in college. The coach commented he is more than comfortable giving his new charge minutes given how well they know each other.

For the full game day preview click here.  And for an interesting suggestion on shifting the starting rotation (including moving Anthony to small forward) click here.