Game preview: OKC Thunder begin 3 game road trip looking to end Detroit win streak
Limit Blake Griffin effectiveness:
Blake Griffin offers the biggest challenge for the OKC Thunder and is the most critical in terms of capturing the victory. New head coach Dwane Casey has Griffin running the offense and his effectiveness is the key to Detroit succeeding.
On the season Griffin is averaging 24.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 5.1 assists and is shooting the 3-ball at a 36.1 percent clip. Through the past five games there has been a regression as Blake is shooting 22.2 percent (8 of 32) from the perimeter.
With Drummond to contend with there will be major emphasis on Jerami Grant and Patrick Patterson keeping Griffin in hand.
The Russell – Reggie factor:
If you’ve been a fan of the OKC Thunder for very long you’re well acquainted with the situation between point guard Reggie Jackson and his former Thunder teammates. Steven Adams let some of the secrets spill out in his book. Although it was common knowledge Jackson felt he deserved more touches and playing time Adams revealed that Jackson felt he should be starting presumably ahead of Westbrook or alongside Westbrook.
Either way, the team was not impressed with the disrespect Jackson leveled at the Brodie and no one shed tears when he left the team.
The timing of this match is intriguing as Jackson has posted his best performances of the season in the past five games. During this segment Jackson is averaging 19.8 points, 5 assists and 2.2 rebounds. He’s also been hot from deep connecting on 42.4 percent of his 3-point attempts. That said the Thunder may want to encourage a similar effort from Jackson as his Phoenix outing when he hoisted 15 treys (he hit four).
Suffice to say every time Westbrook plays Jackson there is always a little extra motivation.
Plenty of inspiration:
Actually the Pistons may offer the most opponents who the OKC Thunder players have grudges with. Zaza Pachulia is now a backup center in Detroit. Adams and Griffin have their past history, but Patterson also has issues with BG having received two separate elbows to the face when he played in Toronto. One resulted in Patterson leaving the court with blood streaming from his face. And, of course, no long term Thunder player is a fan of Reggie Jackson.