Phoenix Suns v Oklahoma City Thunder 12/17 Game Preview

Phoenix Suns v Oklahoma City Thunder

Saturday12/17/2016 3:00pm
Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City Arena, OK
Fox Sports Arizona/Arizona Sports 98.7FM

Season Series – 0-0
All-Time Series – Phoenix leads 124-105
Last Matchup – October 21, 2016, Oklahoma City  won 113-110 in OT
Suns’ Last Game – Loss to San Antonio Spurs 109-92
Thunder’s Last Game – Loss to the Utah Jazz 109-89
Suns’ Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 106.5 (9th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 113.0 (29th of 30)
Thunder’s Scoring Averages – PTS/G: 105.6 (10th of 30) Opp PTS/G: 104.9 (17th of 30)

Preview

Phoenix Suns

The Suns, now losers of five of their last seven, currently find themselves near the end of the Western Conference standings at 13th, 26th in the league, although they are only two games ahead of NBA bottom-dwellers, the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers, each who are 6-20…Phoenix has significantly ratcheted up their three-point shot attempts recently and are second in the league over their last three games taking 32.7 per game, tied with the Golden State Warriors. They are unbelievably 16 shots behind the Houston Rockets for first place over that span, however…The three-point shooting percentage over that span however is only marginally better than their regular season percentage average, 33.7%, .3% better than their total 26 game average…Over than same three game span the Suns have pushed up their rebounds per game average by 3.2 over their season average, however only snagged 35 against San Antonio the other night…Eric Bledsoe is leading the team in scoring with 20.0 points per game, however, his three-point shooing percentage is a tepid 30.4%….He is also only shooting a 49.1% eFG% de to his poor three-point shooting…T.J. Warren will return to the Phoenix Suns lineup today…

Golden State Warriors

Without Kevin Durant, the Thunder have become the Russell Westbrook show. They are currently 15-11, second in the North West Division, and 7th in the Western Conference…The Thunder are overall a decent shooting team, ranking 14th in the league in eFG% at 50.1%…Victor Oladipo, who has missed the previous two games (including a loss to division leader Utah) with a right wrist sprain. He is having a decent season alongside backcourt mate Westbrook, averaging 16.1 points per game, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists…Westbrook, however, is having a spectacular year, and is averaging a triple-double on the season thus far, with 30.5 points per game, 10.6 assists, and 10.5 rebounds to go along with 1.3 steals…Westbrook recorded his irst triple-double on the season in game two of the season, against the Suns when he scored 51 points, grabbed 13 rebouds, and dished out 11 assists…Westbrook, who has 12 triple-doubles on the season thus far, has missed the release of pressure that Oladipo provides with his absence over the last two games and has only grabbed a total of 12 rebounds and dished out only 11 assists in a 19 point loss to Portland and a 20 point loss to Utah…Oladipo will be out again today, potentially providing Phoenix the opportunity to focus solely on Westbrook…

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