Brooks Knows Thunder Will Have Their Hands Full Tonight
By Randy Renner
Defense has been the best part of the Thunder so far this season with superstar scorers sidelined and tonight the defense will have to be outstanding.
The Golden State Warriors are in town with the "Splash Brothers." Steph Curry and Klay Thompson are off to great starts. Curry is averaging 28.3 points on 48.4 percent shooting overall and 39.3 percent from three. Thompson is right behind at 22.6 points on 47.1 percent shooting overall and 44.6 percent from deep. The Warriors as a team are shooting 49.9 percent (1st in the NBA).
Thunder guards Reggie Jackson will be on Curry to start the game and Andre Roberson gets Thompson.
"We're gonna have to do a great job on defense against one of the best and deepest teams in the NBA," Thunder coach Scott Brook said a few minutes ago.
The Warriors have own four straight and haven't scored less than 100 points in five straight games.
Golden State is 9-2 coming in and is off to the franchise's best start since the 1972-73 season.
Offense isn't the only thing the Warriors have going their way this season. Unlike in past years when defense has been a problem, it's been a strength this season. The Warriors are holding opponents to just 41.5 percent shooting (2nd in the NBA).
"We're gonna have to have a good offensive game too," Brooks admitted. Those have been hard to come by for OKC. The Thunder are 2nd to last in scoring, averaging 88.9 points and 3rd from last in shooting (42.1 percent).
Brooks said "we're gonna have to do everything within our power to score points tonight," but the Thunder remain limited. Perry Jones, who's averaging more than 15 points a game is still out with that problematic bruised knee and of course Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook remain sidelined.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr isn't surprised the Thunder have still managed to remain competitive in almost every game they've played. "They compete every night because that's the culture they've developed here over the years. Every game has been close because they play hard all the way through."
That will have to be the case again tonight, not only to stay competitive but to keep from being blown out.
As usual, our entire InsideThunder.com crew is here at The Peake and we'll have full post game video coverage with comments from Coach Brooks and from players inside the locker room. If you can't watch the game check out our feed page for comments on Twitter from reporters at the game.