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| Olympics hero, NBA superstar, noted hipster. Honestly, what can't Kevin Durant do? |
When: 7:30 pm; Tuesday, December 4th, 2012
Where: Barclays Center; Brooklyn, NY
TV: YES Network/NBATV
Much has been made of the many tests the Nets have had already this season. First was the postponement of the scheduled Barclays-Center-opener with the Knicks on November 1st due to Hurricane Sandy. Then came a two-game losing streak, including a game against Minnesota in which a 22-point lead was blown and a 30-point loss via rout to the Heat. The Nets went on to beat Boston in their first-ever TNT regular season game, had a poor West Coast road trips with defeats to the Lakers and Warriors, rebounded at home by beating the Clippers and Celtics again, just to lose to the Heat again on Saturday. At some point or another, those games were all considered "tests" or barometer games for the Nets to judge their progress in.
Well, tonight, against the defending Western Conference champion Thunder, is another one of those tests. As you might expect from Oklahoma City, they are at the top of their division, and near the top of the Western Conference, with a stellar 14-4 record, helped by the current five-game winning streak they are riding. All of this success was probably expected of the Thunder, but those expectations may have been tempered a bit this preseason when they shockingly traded James Harden to the Rockets with less than two weeks until the beginning of the regular season. Harden, OKC's top shooting guard and obvious keeper of the chemistry, was incredibly crucial in the Thunder's run to the Finals last season and not having in the lineup must have been weird for the whole team. Compound that with getting used to the new guys (Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb) and the Thunder have a reasonable excuse for a poor start to the season. Not that they needed it or anything.
In truth, Oklahoma City is a very similar team to the Heat, who the Nets have had mighty struggles against this season. Durant is like LeBron, Westbrook similar in skillset to Wade, Ibaka a more physical version of Bosh, and even Thabo Sefalosha is a younger and more athletic Shane Battier. Oh the similarities! Seriously though, this presents a major problem for a Nets team that, in six of eight quarters against Miami this season, has looked extremely overmatched, drawing more comparisons to the New Jersey Nets than the Brooklyn Nets.
And to add injury to insult (I know, not the actual phrase but I gotta make the semantics work here), Brook Lopez might not even play tonight. Yup, his sprained foot is worse than previously thought and only a MRI giving him a clean bill of health can convince the Nets' training staff to let the big guy give it a go tonight. He was originally supposed to miss just two games, but now it looks like it might be more. Andray Blatche has been effective in filling in for Brook, but he just doesn't have the post presence and/or lane-clogging size that Lopez possesses. Not good news for Brooklyn.
Probable Lineups
OKC- Westbrook (PG), Sefalosha (SG), Durant (SF), Ibaka (PF), Perkins (C)
BKN- Williams (PG), Johnson (SG), Wallace (SF), Humphries (PF), Lopez (C)
Final Thoughts
Gonna be another tough battle for the Nets to win, but, at 7-1 at home, they have shown an ability to beat nearly anyone at the Barclays Center in the 2012-13 campaign. Key is to stop Durant and get a hand in the face of Martin, who has been scorching the Nets since his trade from Houston.
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