Thunder vs. Grizzlies preview

THUNDER
The Thunder (59-23) come in as the second seed in the Western Conference and the second best record in the entire NBA. Last year ended in disappointment with an injury to their starting point guard Russell Westbrook and the got beat by the Grizzles in the 2nd round. This year Westbrook is back and ready to get a shot at the Grizzles. The tandom of Westbrook and Kevin Durant, who might get the MVP this year, lead this team into the playoffs in search of their first title. The Thunder like to run and get up and down the court as they score the 5th most points per game in the NBA. They also rebound the ball well as they are 7th in the NBA at 44.7 a game. Anything less than a championship would be a disappointment for this team. 

GRIZZLIES
The Grizzlies (50-32) come into the playoffs as the 7th seed in the Western Conference. They got the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Spurs. They beat the Thunder thanks to the Westbrook injury. The have one of the best frontcourts in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Surprisingly, they are not a good rebounding team at least statistically. The like to play in the half court and play at a slow pace. Also they play excellent defense and hold opponents to under 95 points a game. If the Grizzles are going to win this series they are going to have to take advantage of the big bodies in the front court. 

STARTERS
PG THUNDER RUSSELL WESTBROOK GRIZZLIES MIKE CONLEY 
Russel Westbrook is one of the best point guards in the league when healthy. He can get to the rim very effectively and has a good jump shot. He averaged 21.8 ppg and 6.9 apg during the season. Mike Conley is one of the most underrated point guard in the NBA. He is really a good player that goes unnoticed sometimes because of all the attention that their bigs get. 

ADVANTAGE: THUNDER

SG THUNDER THABO SEFOLSHA GRIZZLIES COURTNEY LEE
This is the worst match skill use both of these players are not that good of players. Neither really does much and don't average that many points. Sefolsha is a decent defensive player well Lee is more of a shooter that just can't shot that well.

ADVANTAGE: NEITHER

SF THUNDER KEVIN DURANT GRIZZLIES TAYSHAUN PRINCE
Kevin Durant is most likely going to get the MVP award this year. He has a streak of 41 consecutive games of more than 25 points. He is one of the best players in the NBA. He can score in most ways either by getting to the rim of by his jumper. He is really long and can get his shot up over anyone. Prince is a long player also with a good post game for his size. He also plays good defense but is no contest for Durant.

ADVANTAGE: THUNDER
PF THUNDER SERGE IBAKA GRIZZLIES ZACH RANDOLPH
Ibaka or should I say Iblocka as some people call him is really good at blocking shots and was 2nd in the league in blocks at 2.7 a game. his jump shot has really improve in the last couple years.
Zach Randolph is a post player that usually only one hand a lot of the time. He averages a double double in points and rebounds (17.4 and 10.1)

ADVANTAGE: GRIZZLIES

C THUNDER KENDRIC PERKINS GRIZZLIES MARC GASOL
Perkins is an energy kind of player that gives you 6 fouls a game and likes to get in your face. He is short for his position and can get beat by a lot of the bigger centers in the league just like the one he will be going against in this series. Marc Gasol is the other half of the Grizzlies great front court. He like to pound you and score with with back to the basket. He averages 14.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg.

ADVANTAGE: GRIZZLIES

PREDICTION: One thing to watch for in this series is the pace of the game. If it is really fast and uptempo the Thunder are probably doing well. If it is slower the Grizzles are usually doing well. Having Westbrook for this series I think will be the difference as compared to last year when he was hurt. Thunder in 7.