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| 2012-2013 NBA Season | ||
|---|---|---|
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| March 8th, 2013 | ||
| The Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina | ||
| 6:00 PM CST | ||
| Fox Sports Network Oklahoma, Sport South | ||
| WWLS the Sports Animal (98.1), Sports Radio 610 AM WFNZ | ||
| Enemy Blogs: Rufus on Fire, Bobcats Planet, Bobcats Baseline, Queen City Hoops | ||
| Previous Meetings: Nov. 26th (Thunder Lead Season Series 1-0) | ||
| Injury Report: Ramon Sessions (Out) | ||
| Probable Starters | ||
| Russell Westbrook | PG | Kemba Walker |
| Thabo Sefolosha | SG | Gerald Henderson |
| Kevin Durant | SF | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist |
| Serge Ibaka | PF | B.J. Mullens |
| Kendrick Perkins | C | Bismack Biyombo |
If you're not thankful for anything else, just be thankful that you're not a Charlotte Bobcats fan. This team, seemingly forever confined to the doldrums of the NBA, has lost 8 straight and constantly gets blown out. During their last matchup with the Thunder, they were blown out in record fashion. The Thunder were up by more than 40 at halftime, which hasn't been done in over 20 years. Moreover, the final 45 point margin of victory was the largest in Thunder franchise history. Want to know more bad Bobcat news? Well, their second leading scorer, Ramon Sessions, will be out 2-3 weeks with a sprained MCL.
So yeah, the Bobcats had basically given up on the season long ago. They're pretty devoid of developed talent, and what they do have doesn't mesh together very well. The team has almost not ball control, ranking among the league's worst teams in terms of rebounding and turnovers. They also rank among the league's worst field goal and three point shooting teams. Supposedly their only saving grace is their ability to get to the line, but they shoot so poorly there that it doesn't matter anyway.
The Bobcats generally succeed when they can at least keep up with the other team in terms of ball control, allowing their offense to truly shine. They were able to do so against the Celtics and Magic earlier this month, both teams who can be weak in that area. In both cases, the Cats relied upon Walker, Henderson, and Mullens for the bulk of their scoring, and they all shot really good percentages.
In other words, the Bobcats are going to need a miracle in order to win tonight. I know the Thunder aren't the best at taking care of the ball, but the Bobcats generally aren't good at distributing the ball offensively anyway. They don't have a true point guard on the team, and lots of guys are left on their own in order to score. Also, the team loves to run and get out on the break, which is a huge no-no against the Thunder.
Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder 111, Charlotte Bobcats 99.
If you are looking for tickets to upcoming games, you can find Oklahoma City Thunder tickets here.
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