Roy Sidelined Tonight--Opens the Door for Thunder
With the possibility of facing the defending champion Lakers becoming an undeniable reality (especially after Sunday night's squandering of a 20 point lead against lowly Golden State), the Thunder were given a brief moment of good news heading into their pivotal matchup with the Blazers tonight in Portland. According to cbssports.com, Blazers superstar Brandon Roy will be sidelined with a knee contusion tonight, leaving Portland with a serious void in the category of consistent perimeter scoring. While I would hesitate to say that Roy is the factor that Kevin Durant is for the Thunder, his impact on the Trailblazers is certainly comprable, as their offense often times finds itself stagnant when he isn't on the floor. Simply put: Imagine Oklahoma City playing a game of this magnitude with KD sidelined. I'm a believer in our supporting cast, but in a playoff atmosphere like this, I think we'd probably end up scoring in the high 70's or low 80's were that the case. If the Thunder crack down defensively tonight, with Thabo Seflosha likely guarding inconsistent wings like Martell Webster as opposed to Roy, they should be able to (knock on wood) put themselves in a good position to avoid a first round series hosted in the Staples Center.
If not, they probably deserve the Lakers in round 1.
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to the last point if we lose tonight and SA wins their game arent we then guaranteed 8th regardless of what happens in each teams last game?
also portland has played without roy before so it isnt as jarring as it would be to some teams that dont know how to play without their superstar. they did outscore the lakers in LA yesterday in the 2nd half without him.
by Michael Gleich on Apr 12, 2010 5:38 PM CDT up reply actions
As you note
that’s basically the case. Heck, if we WIN we can still end up with the 8th seed depending on how things turn out, as Portland still maintains the tiebreaker with SA and ties with us …
yea i understand we lose the tiebreakers just saying it’s guaranteed if we lose tonight, so i guess the must win definition applies.
by Michael Gleich on Apr 12, 2010 6:13 PM CDT up reply actions
The other issue is that the key matchup
Has never really (in my opinion) been Roy … it’s been Batum vs KD. Everyone else on that team can share the scoring load a lot better than OKC can.
people here in Portland are amped for this game
the loss of Roy will hurt no doubt, but dont think that this team is doomed without him. We still have players that can put up points.
Should be a good one!
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
wow...
thats huge, Portland can’t get a break.
Loud City via Far East
boredaroundtheworld.blogspot.com
Game thread tonight, folks?
With no NBA in Seattle and my W’s having won their championship last night by coming back from 20 down against a playoff team (when we obviously needed to tank), my allegiances are shifting to OKC…
SwishAppeal.com, women's basketball...covered SBN-style... twitter: @qmccall3
Where is the game thread?
They just showed my Thunder love on ESPN Coast to Coast.
Follow me on Twitter (Kevin Durant does!) @electricpencils
by ElectricPencils on Apr 12, 2010 8:31 PM CDT reply actions

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