Game Preview: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns

It's the most wonderful time of the year!  We're nearing Christmas, we're playing on our home court, and we're playing against a team that went 23-59 last year.  Merry Christmas?

Not so fast.  This team, similar to the Kings, is enjoying some early season "success", compared to last year.  They're sitting (kind of) pretty at 13-14, good for tied for the 9th seed in the (not so) Wild Wild West.  They are a young team that plays with fire, and while we should theoretically run them out of the stadium with our veteran leadership, this team has given us problems in the past.

First, let's hit some talking points:

• James Harden is playing his first game in the Valley of the Sun that made him such a hot commodity
• The Thunder's all-time record against the Suns?  0-4.
• The total number of points the Suns have beat them by?  42...and that includes a game where we won by 22 to throw off the statistic.
• Suns record on their home court?  10-1.  Thunder record on the road?  6-7.  Not bad for a young team, especially with wins against Utah and Miami

The Suns have to be fired up for this game.  The Thunder, as mentioned before, are a young team benefitting from playing with one of the game's up and coming superstars in Durant, and have looked hell bent on not repeating last year's disastrous record.  That said, the Suns have been (mostly) great in the early season, beating the teams they should beat, and even pulling off a few big wins against teams no one during the offseason thought they had any business beating.

The Thunder, on the other hand, have beaten 13 teams by Christmas.  That's more than half of what they won all of last season.  It's no secret that they are playing like a new team, with their most impressive victory coming against the Jazz on, you guessed it, their home court.  The Thunder have a lot of weapons, most notably Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, but don't count out players like Jeff Green (who can straight up ball) and James Harden.  Harden is still learning the NBA game, but has been playing very well as of late and could do a lot of damage against us.  We know the former Arizona State University product be fired up when he gets on the court for the first time.
Here's how I see the Suns being able to win the game:

• Not letting Durant go crazy.  Durant, in my opinion, is a streaky kind of player.  Sure, he's going to put up his points on you (he's at 27.3 on the year), but it's the way that he puts them up.  If we can keep him below his season average, and keep him in check (i.e. not let him get too fired up), we should be good.
• Deny entrance to the paint.  Russell Westbrook has little-to-no outside jumper, and we need to realize that.  Sure, he'll hit a few shots here and there, but the way he does most of his damage is by penetrating into the post and kicking it out or finishing strong at the rim.  Deny him entrance to the paint, and you take away a lot of his game.
• Run, but be smart about it.  During the Cavs game, the Suns tried to start their running game early, and the Cavs (LeBron) knew it.  He hung back, cut off outlet passes, and single handedly took us out of the game we were so fired up in.  We can't let their "defensive specialist" in Thabo Sefolosha take notes from The King and do the same tonight
• Protect the home court.  We're coming off one of the worst losses of the season (most embarrassing, for sure) as far as the team gelling goes.  We've been blown out this season, but they were in games that we were expected to be blown out.  We've been a stellar home team this year, and we need to shake off the loss (and overall confusion) and come out of that locker room ready to play.

With all of that said, I'm looking forward to this game.  If we're still floundering, don't be surprised if the Thunder come up with the "W".  The Thunder have had some good matchups this season, and I'm looking for the Suns to come out angry and put this young team in their place.

[Note by Phoenix Stan, 12/23/09 11:21 AM MST ]

Thanks to Trevor for stepping up and asking to do the preview and recap for this game. We certainly welcome anyone else that wants to try their hand at these exciting and self-fulling tasks.

Game (and other) Links:

• Thunder vs Suns coverage
• Welcome to Loud City

• KTAR.com - Heated Stoudemire moving on
  Tuesday morning Stoudemire said he was still pretty heated about the game. "Anytime you lose a game like that, where we couldn't score down the stretch, it's not easy to swallow," Stoudemire said after practice. "But we did a great job today of going over the things we needed to work on to improve. "We feel better about ourselves now." Stoudemire said he had trouble sleeping Monday night following the loss, but said his frustration will carry over to the team's Wednesday game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

• azcentral.com blogs - Coro's Suns dish - PaulCoro - Suns set up to get well
  The Suns are entering a get-well portion of their schedule just in time. They have not won successive games since November and just suffered their first home loss since March. Oklahoma City is no pushover, as exemplified by how the Thunder pushed the Lakers to the final seconds Tuesday night, but this is the first of three successive games the Suns have against teams with losing records and Leandro Barbosa is supposed to be back for the latter two (Clippers at home on Friday and Warriors on the road Saturday).

• Suns' turnovers, exploited by Cavs, a growing concern
  Amar'e Stoudemire had six turnovers Monday, three of which came on offensive fouls. He is averaging 3.7 turnovers in losses. "You're not going to forget about that," he said of the loss. "I'm still pretty heated, to be honest. It's going to carry over."

• Now playing in the Purple Palace: Big Game James| Valley of the Suns
  no matter how Harden performs against the Suns or the rest of his NBA career, his contribution to Sun Devil basketball will not be forgotten, and he will have a rousing ovation deservedly waiting for him Wednesday night courtesy of Planet Orange.

• Can you live with what Suns have become?
  Paula makes some really good points...

• http://www.news1130.com/news/local/article/10651--steve-nash-and-partners-buy-fitness-world
  It's being called a slam dunk of a deal. NBA star Steve Nash, New Evolution Fitness Company and investment firm Angelo, Gordon and Company have bought the prominent Fitness World chain.

• Blog News: DBB joins SB Nation | Detroit Bad Boys
  The SBNation keeps a-growing!

• NBA Bloggers Power Rankings Week 8: Where (gulp) The Knicks Are on Fire, And The Lakers Win Again - SB Nation
  Suns #7: From Clips Nation, "Don't be fooled by their 4-6 record in their last 10 - losses @CLE, @LAL, @DAL, @DEN and @POR are not unusual - those are 5 of the toughest places to win in the entire league. One place tougher? @PHO, where the Suns are still undefeated."

• Suns welcome Thunder to town | Fanster.com
  The Phoenix Suns host the Oklahoma City Thunder at U.S. Airways Center on Wednesday, December 23, 2009.