

Broadcast Information

Tip-off: 2:30 p.m. CT

2:30 p.m. CT Television: ABC

ABC Radio: WWLS the Sports Animal and the Thunder Radio Network

HOUSTON -- Thunder and Houston Rockets fans have seen this movie three times already this season – a pace and space, three-point launching scoring machine against rough-and-tumble bully ball, with Russell Westbrook as the straw that stirs the (strong) drink.

Now with the postseason just three weeks away, fans from two of the Western Conference’s best squads will get a chance to see their teams duke it out once more. If this is going to be anything like their first three meetings this year, expect another nail-biter.

It’ll be a test for the Thunder’s big men: can they stay on the floor against the quick, drive-and-dish Rockets? Can Houston withstand the Thunder’s muscle? Head Coach Billy Donovan doesn’t have the answer for what will happen Sunday afternoon, but he and his team certainly have a pulse on what they’ll have on their plate.

“They create a lot of problems and dilemmas for you defensively,” Donovan reported. “Even if they don’t catch it and shoot it, they can catch and put it down on the floor and generate something.”

Thunder Talk: Coach Donovan

“(We have to) maintain stamina for 48 minutes. It’s going to be a long game,” guard Victor Oladipo added. “They’re playing really well obviously. They have a lot of weapons off their bench as well. They’re a good overall team so we’ll have to be locked in for 48 minutes.”

Part of Houston’s ethos is its devotion to the numbers, the percentages and the analytics. The theory goes that if you’re a team that shoots above 33.3 percent from the three-point line, every two-point shot that isn’t a layup should be eradicated from the repertoire.

For the Thunder, it’s not as cut-and-dry. For players like Russell Westbrook and Oladipo, an open mid-range jumper can not only be an effective tool, but even a more productive shot than a three-pointer. If it can manufacture enough of them in a game and shoot over 50 percent on them, those two point jumpers are better than three-pointers hit at only a 33.3 percent clip. All of it depends on nuance, however. Are Westbrook or Oladipo feeling it? Is the shot wide open? How much time is on the shot clock? What else are opponents taking away?

“Sometimes Russell getting into the teeth of the defense and taking a clean 15-foot pull-up jump shot is good for us. Victor, the same kind of thing at times, that’s good for us,” Donovan explained. “Any good offense starts with the ability to attack the paint because a lot of things open up from there. If the paint is going to be taken away, we have to take advantage of what’s there.”

“The ones that become difficult are the rearview contest ones shooting over a big,” Donovan continued. “Those are the ones you want to stay away form. There are times where you get a good screen and you get a guard coming downhill and the center is backing up, and he’s taking a 15-foot uncontested shot, you’ll take that at times.”

So the Thunder heads into this clash with the Rockets trying to only be itself. And that’s a pretty darn good thing to be. Winners of six of their past seven games, the Thunder has prided itself on tough defense with a tweaked starting lineup to get games kick-started right. In addition to Westbrook’s team-oriented genius, the Thunder leans on the block. That’s where Donovan’s club can wear down its foes. And for 48 minutes, that weight can be a lot to carry for smaller teams.

“I still really believe that as a coach you want your team playing to its strengths,” Donovan stated. “You want to be playing good basketball every day and week that goes by.”