Things of Note for Saturday's Games

LAL@OKC-7.5





The Thunder are the only team in history to score 100 points or more in 10 straight games. That is amazing but at the same time they might not be able to reach this mark against the Lakers since scoring 100 in 11 straight games has never happened before. This gives the Lakers a chance to cover since the D'Antoni system lives to score a hundred a night. Oklahoma City has owned the Lakers in Chesapeake Arena and their annual twenty point win against the Lakers could come tomorrow.

Oklahoma City has changed its defensive strategy towards packing the paint at all costs. This even means bring in wing players earlier to help in the paint such as Westbrook and Sefolosha. they're playing a hyperactive zone by bringing in one player from the weakside towards the paint even if the ballhandler has yet to make a move in the perimeter. The Thunder's commitment to limiting points in the paint has lead to a ton of open 3-point shots. They have been relying on the athleticism of their wings to recover to the open spot up shooters. Normal teams won't be able to do this. But the athletic freaks of OKC can recover quickly enough sometimes. The keyword is sometimes. They simply give up open shots in the perimeter and the strategy has worked well so far. However the Lakers new offense's goal is to shoot a ton of threes.

It will be interesting to see which strategy will win out. The Lakers fan in me wants to take the 7 and a half of the Lakers.


HOU@SAS-8.5

The Spurs have completely revamped their defensive philosophy this season. Pop has been experimenting with defensive lineups all season. The Spurs still score at a high clip but Pop has been trying to get the Spurs back to the defensive juggernaut they once were in the mid 2000s. The reason for this was because of how JAMES HARDEN destroyed the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals last season. This is why Matt Bonner is no longer in the rotation and we have more Dejuan Blair and Tiago Splitter. The Spurs have changed their pick and roll defense specifically for James Harden so I would think that the Spurs will be able to contain him tomorrow. And being able to limit Harden is always good news for Rockets opponents.