OKC Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers: Whose bench mob will feast?
Nerlens Noel versus Leonard, Collins:
Nerlens Noel is a dominating force on defense and will be important to utilize throughout the series. He averages nearly 14 minutes per game with 4.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks.
He hasn’t been loud offensively with a handful of double-digit games scattered about, but his defensive game is quite disruptive.
In their last meeting, Nerlens put up 6 points off 2-of-5 shooting with just 2 defensive rebounds. Leonard hasn’t played much the last half of the season, but in his 42 minutes versus Sacramento, he capped off 19 points with 8 made field goals. He ended the season with a double-double of 11 rebounds, seven defensively, so Noel will have to fight to secure any second chance opportunity that comes his way.
More from Thunder News
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
The seven-foot Zach Collins averages 6.6 points with 4.2 rebounds. Glancing through his game-by-game stats, he is about as inconsistent as a Center can be. Despite scoring 18 and 13 points throughout his last five games he only averaged 8.2 points in that span. Multiple times this season he’s had a stellar performance nearing 20 points followed by a dismal contribution of anywhere between 0-6 points.
That is a key area to exploit for Nerlens as we prep for a seven-game series between the two towers.
To wrap it up, the benches don’t seem all that different through a statistical lens. The main factor in bench play will be Donovan’s decisions in rotations. Throughout the last ten games or so we’ve seen him rotate from three bigs on the court to five smalls on the court. If he can keep tabs on who is vibing together, I’m still confident in a first-round win for OKC Thunder.
All player stats derived from HoopsStats.com and BasketballReference.com.
dark. Next. Trivia: uncovering 50 fun, surprising and random Thunder facts
Follow Thunderous Intentions on Twitter throughout the Playoffs and chat with us about all your favorite moments. And, don’t forget to stay tuned here as we bring you all the pertinent details of the first-round shenanigans. Thunder Up!
OKC Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers: Whose bench mob will feast?