30 Team Association: Thunder-Kings Matchup Preview - mmcnab91's Dynasty

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30 Team Association: Thunder-Kings Matchup Preview

Posted on March 8, 2013 at 02:21 AM.

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#1 Oklahoma City Thunder vs. #8 Sacramento Kings

Game 1: Thunder vs. Kings (4/19, 9:30 p.m.) TV: ESPN
Game 2: Thunder vs. Kings (4/21, 9:30 p.m.) TV: ESPN
Game 3: Kings vs. Thunder (4/23, 10:30 p.m.) TV: ESPN
Game 4: Kings vs. Thunder (4/25, 10:30 p.m.) TV: ESPN
Game 5: Thunder vs. Kings (4/27, 9:30 p.m.) TV: ESPN
Game 6: Kings vs. Thunder (4/30, 10:30 p.m.) TV: ESPN
Game 7: Thunder vs. Kings (5/2, 9:30 p.m.) TV: ESPN
Games 5-7 if necessary

Matchup Preview *|* April 19, 2013

Sacramento Kings
(43-39, 21-20 Away, 22-19 Home)

Oklahoma City Thunder
(54-28, 30-11 Home, 24-17 Away)

Stats Comparison
112.5	Points Per Game	109.9
111.0	PPG Allowed	101.7
.490	Field Goal %	.488
.419	3-Point %	.390
.834	Free Throw %	.894
45.3	Rebounds	45.1
5.3	Blocks	6.5
7.6	Steals	7.5
13.2	Turnovers	12.5

Projected Starters
Aaron Brooks	Point Guard	Russell Westbrook
Marcus Thornton	Shooting Guard	Kevin Martin
Tyreke Evans	Small Forward	Josh Childress
Thomas Robinson	Power Forward	Kevin Durant
DeMarcus Cousins	Center	Serge Ibaka

Injury Report
Brian Roberts-Back Spasms 4/27		Kendrick Perkins-Bruised Foot 4/25

Game Notes
Oklahoma City returns to the playoffs as the clear favorite to win the Western Conference, but the Thunder could be walking into a trap series against the Kings. While Oklahoma City's scoring comes from it's three backcourt starters-Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Kevin Martin-Sacramento prefers to score in the paint through bigs DeMarcus Cousins and Thomas Robinson-and that's not to mention the scoring prowess of Tyreke Evans, Marcus Thornton, and Aaron Brooks. While Serge Ibaka will do his best to handle Cousins down low, the loss of its second best interior defender, Kendrick Perkins, could put Oklahoma City in an early hole before his return, likely around Game 4 of this series.