Game 24 | Cleveland @ OKC | December 13, 2009 | 7:00 PM EST

[djlofi]

Starters

Bench Bunch

Boobie Gibson | Danny Green | Zydrunas Ilgauskas | Darnell Jackson | Jamario Moon | Anderson Varejao | Delonte West | Jawad Williams

OKC Starters

Kevin Durant -SF

Jeff Green - PF

Russell Westbrook - PG

Thabo Sefolosha - SG

Nenad Krstic - C

Thunder Bench

James Harden | Nick Collison | Serge Ibaka | Shaun Livingston | Kevin Ollie | Etan Thomas | Kyle Weaver | DJ White | Mike Wilks

Coaches

INJURIES
Cavaliers:
Leon Powe
Shaquille O'Neal
Daniel Gibson

Thunder:
None
​

Keys to the Game:

Identity: This is my second game preview following watching the Cavs live. Last night, the Blazers got whatever they wanted on offense. In the second half, the Cavs turned up the defensive intensity and pulled out the win. The talk of RCF today is refocusing energy on the defensive intensity, and it's apparent that Coach Brown and LBJ want to turn it up on that end. The Cavs have held their hats on defense, but this season, the rotations are not as crisp, and opponents have been able to make jumpers and find soft spots in the defense. The Thunder have potent weapons on offense, but they are a young team that a veteran laden Cavs squad can impose their will upon.

Bounce back for JJ: The Thunder emply two softer players in the front court in Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. JJ should be able to use his skills to power the interior scoring, but he will need to focus his efforts on defense. Green and Krstic have range, so his rotations on that end will ultimately determine how much time he sees on the court.

Jam of the Game:

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Hey the Starz are out tonight...James vs. Durant

 

[TheNewEra]

Nice game thread. Im looking for the matchup of Lebron vs Durant. Jeff Green is having great year and he will be tough matchup.

 

[Tony_The_Calf]

No name for the last guy on the Thunder Bench?

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

LeBron will have to knock the young fella Durant down a peg.

Also....Russel Westbrook is a good player. We'll need to undoubtedly unleash Delonte on him at some point.

 

[Showmeyourbolt]

If I was MB I wouldn't hesitate to go small early in order to offset the outside shooting OKC has with Krstic and Green. On the other hand, Etan Thomas isn't an offensive threat at all, so Shaq and Z should be able to do a decent job of protecting the rim when he's in the game. This will be a good test to see if Lebron took Mike Brown's words seriously, because Durant isn't a joke.

 

[Zog]

I'm expecting a dominating defensive performance from LeBron on Durant. Similar to when he smothered Carmelo last year at the Q. IIRC, Carmelo only scored 11 points out of his 18 on LeBron (7 on Wally in just a couple minutes).

We could also match up very well with them with Moon on Durant or Green and LeBron on the other. I would say LeBron is a better match-up on Green defensively because of Green's size and strength. Also would allow LeBron to not have to cover Durant all the time.

 

[djlofi]

No name for the last guy on the Thunder Bench?

Mike Wilks. good eye.

 

[djlofi]

I'm expecting a dominating defensive performance from LeBron on Durant. Similar to when he smothered Carmelo last year at the Q. IIRC, Carmelo only scored 11 points out of his 18 on LeBron (7 on Wally in just a couple minutes).

We could also match up very well with them with Moon on Durant or Green and LeBron on the other. I would say LeBron is a better match-up on Green defensively because of Green's size and strength. Also would allow LeBron to not have to cover Durant all the time.

It would be a good indicator of the defensive message if LBJ steps up. I would like to see LBJ spending some time on Durant, but you could match Parker on him and let LBJ cover Thabo. There's a lot of ways the Cavs can choose to defend it. Hickson on Green isn't a terrible matchup for JJ, but again, he has to be aware of Green on the floor because of his range.

The real matchup I would be concerned with is Mo on Westbrook. Westbrook is the classic speedy point guard that shreds the Cavaliers D. Westbrook actually had a coming out of sorts last year against the Cavs in February with 24 points 11 dimes and 6 rebounds.

 

[Zog]

It would be a good indicator of the defensive message if LBJ steps up. I would like to see LBJ spending some time on Durant, but you could match Parker on him and let LBJ cover Thabo. There's a lot of ways the Cavs can choose to defend it. Hickson on Green isn't a terrible matchup for JJ, but again, he has to be aware of Green on the floor because of his range.

The real matchup I would be concerned with is Mo on Westbrook. Westbrook is the classic speedy point guard that shreds the Cavaliers D. Westbrook actually had a coming out of sorts last year against the Cavs in February with 24 points 11 dimes and 6 rebounds.

If Parker can check Durant, perhaps you put LBJ on Westbrook and try to hide Mo on Thabo?

 

[Silky Smooth]

I love OKC's team. Durant, Harden, Westbrook, and Green are beasts. They also fell in a great position because this years draft is stocked with big men and they need a good young to really make that team a contender for years to come. Who's feeling bad for Seattle though?

 

[Casualties14]

Is the former Buckeye Mullens in the D-League?

 

[theSTEREO.]

God, how awful is the Thunder logo? It's a design catastrophe. Is it supposed to look retro? It just looks bad.

 

[Powerslave]

Sad fact of the night: Durant gets more easy off-the-ball points than LeBron.

 

[theSTEREO.]

Sad fact of the night: Durant gets more easy off-the-ball points than LeBron.

Happy fact of the night: Lebron gets an F-load more wins that Durant.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Sad fact of the night: Durant gets more easy off-the-ball points than LeBron.

Funnier counter-fact of the night: And LeBron still scores more efficiently :chuckles: