On Wednesday, March 9, 2011, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be traveling to the Wells Fargo Center to take on the Philadelphia 76ers at home. The game starts at 7:00 ET, and looks to be a showdown between two up and coming teams.
While there were a lot of trades that happened before the deadline, none seemed as promising as the one that the Thunder made in order to acquire Nate Robinson and Kendrick Perkins from the Celtics. Oklahoma City was in need of a true big man and they seem to have found it in Perkins. He gives the team the backcourt presence that they need to be able to match up against other big Western Conference teams like the Los Angeles Lakers. He gives them some true size and depth.
Aside from that trade, the Oklahoma City Thunder (39-22) are still always a threat when having both Westbrook and Durrant on the floor. They have won their last three games and look to have found a good rhythm with their offense. They have the advantage over Philadelphia in both scoring and assist leaders with Durrant averaging 28.1 points per game and Westbrook with 8.4 assists.
The Philadelphia 76ers (32-30), however, have been the surprise of the season and are still in the hunt for a playoff spot despite not having any big name stars on the roster. Elton Brand has played well as of late and the team has been playing incredibly well at home.
While Oklahoma City is the favorite to win, anything can happen with this Philadelphia team, especially when they are fueled by their home crowd.
I'm a basketball fan from Vancouver, Canada. Losing the Grizzlies was bitter-sweet. They sucked balls, so I never really started supporting them, but now I only get to catch games on TV.