The recent five-game road trip started off rough with the OKC Thunder losing to the Nuggets and consecutive games to the Clippers. The team got back on track in the final two matches beating the Portland Trail Blazers and Phoenix Suns.
The latter match came with bragging rights as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led his team in clutch time to beat former captain and friend Chris Paul.
Typically amassing a 2-3 record would be looked at negatively, but considering the talent of the opponents and that the Thunder are young and rebuilding this was a positive road trip.
They say the first game back from a long trip is always the most difficult. In many ways, it’s more difficult than the final game of the road trip. Presumably, it’s because players are able to fully relax at home in comfortable surroundings and sleeping in their own beds,
Making matters more complicated is the opponent — the Brooklyn Nets. The Thunder won the first meeting with Kevin Durant in the lineup but not Kyrie Irving. Since then the team has added James Harden.
The Nets won’t be caught by surprise after losing that game and arrive with much more firepower than the first meeting.
So, as two former members of Thunder University return to Chesapeake let’s dive into three takeaways that could affect their ability to win.
Three keys to OKC Thunder match versus the Nets
Heading into this match the Thunder are riding a mini two-game win streak. Brooklyn is on a three-game win streak with the most recent an overtime affair versus the high octane offense of the Hawks.
That game was pushed to overtime and although both teams played on Wednesday, the Nets are the team who had to travel and used each of the Big 3 over 40 minutes each. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving each played 42 minutes while Harden played 46.
Because so much of their depth was lost to obtain Harden it’s meant the team has to utilize their trio of stars excessively. All three stars rank in the top 15 of playing time – Harden is first, KD is third and Irving is 14th.
With that, let’s look at three keys to the match.
OKC Thunder key no. 1 – Feed Al Horford early and often
Fatherhood agrees with Al Horford as he returned to the court fresh as a daisy and unstoppable in Phoenix. He hit all five of his 3-point shots while posting a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds.
With the Nets somewhat limited upfront it means DeAndre Jordan will be tasked with guarding him and he doesn’t like being pulled out to the perimeter.
In the teams’ first meeting Horford was impressive posting a line of 22 points, six rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block.
Although the Thunder will task Darius Bazley with guarding KD, Mark Daigneault could switch things up and have Horford spend some time on the big man too.