Vitals: Thunder at Bobcats

Oklahoma City begins a three-game road trip in Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:34 am

By: News On 6

Originally Published: Mar 17, 2010 11:18 AM CDT

Dave Carty
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

Oklahoma City Thunder (41-24) at Charlotte Bobcats (34-32)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010, 6:00 p.m. CST.
Ford Center, Oklahoma City
Game 66 of 82

Anticipated Starting Lineups

	Oklahoma City (Away)	Charlotte (Home)
PG	Russell Westbrook 16.8 PPG, 8.0 APG	Raymond Felton 11.7 PPG, 5.4 APG
SG	Thabo Sefolosha 5.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG	Stephen Graham 4.0 PPG 2.0 RPG
SF	Kevin Durant 29.8 PPG, 7.5 RPG	Stephen Jackson 20.8 PPG, 5.0 RPG
PF	Jeff Green 14.7 PPG, 6.1 RPG	Boris Diaw 11.2 PPG, 5.1 RPG
C	Nenad Krstic 8.3 PPG, 5.0 RPG	Theo Ratliff 3.2 PPG, 2.6 RPG

Injuries
Oklahoma City: G, James Harden (hamstring, out).
Charlotte: C, DeSagana Diop (knee, out); G, Larry Hughes (hand, out); C, Nazr Mohammed (back, out); F, Gerald Wallace (ankle/foot, questionable).

Where to find it?
On TV: KSBI
On Radio: Thunder Radio Network

What you need to know...
A win tonight would tie Charlotte with its highest mark in franchise history – 35 wins. The franchise slowly crawled out of the basement and is in the running for one of the final three playoff spots. The Chicago Bulls seem to be the only team that could claw back in, sitting three games below Charlotte. That said, each game means that much more to the Bobcats. If coach Larry Brown can bring the team to the playoffs for the first time, it would mean huge progress for the franchise. If Gerald Wallace misses Wednesday’s game against the Thunder – as he did against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday – Charlotte will be without its greatest two-way weapon.

Home is where the heart is, but after a three-game homestand its back on the road for an east coast swing. Oklahoma City is enjoying a five game winning streak and has won eight of nine games. The Thunder sits fifth in the Western Conference standings, but Phoenix, San Antonio, and Portland are all nipping at its heels. The last battle between the two teams – a 98-91 Thunder win last December – should be pretty similar to this one: good defense and few mistakes. Simply put, whichever team hits its shots will win the game.

Who to watch...
For all the fur he’s rubbed the wrong way in his NBA career, Stephen Jackson still gets the job done. He hasn’t averaged less than 15 points per game since the 2002-03 season. The Charlotte offense runs through him.

Without Wallace, that’s one less hand to put in the face of Kevin Durant, which should mean more points for him to put on the board.