Oklahoma City Thunder vs Denver Nuggets
This post is Pay Plays Enabled ONLY ON STEEMSPORTS.COM
Game Preview
Oklahoma City Thunder will be hosting the Denver Nuggets on January 7th. This match is of double importance as Thunder and Nuggets are direct contenders for the play-offs position. Not only would it be nice for both teams to get a victory, but it is also important to see their direct opponents lose. Thunder will be playing at home and that makes them a slight favorite in this match. However, Denver Nuggets showed throughout the season that they are capable of defeating anyone. It will be an interesting match-up with a lot of points.
Oklahoma City Thunder
As expected, Oklahoma City Thunder had a high scoring night in Houston. It looked like an all-stars game was played a little early, as no team cared about the defense. By the end of 2 quarters, Rockets had 67 points. Westbrook's 26 for Thunder was not enough to keep up the pace. By the end of the 3rd quarter, the Rockets had 100 already. Thunder just could not cope with the Rockets' offensive game and that is why they lost. 49 points and career high 8 three pointers from Westbrook were not enough to change the outcome.
I previously wrote about Victor Oladipo being back to the rotation. It really seemed that he is fully fit, but after watching a game with Rockets, I am not so sure. One month without basketball does some damage, and Oladipo is not in his greatest form just yet.
Apart from all the troubles, I can see Thunder dominating over Nuggets. Why? Nuggets mainly trust their big guys as their guards and they are pretty weak. That means that Russell Westbrook will have a lot of free space to let all of his talents out. What happens when Russell does that? Thunder usually wins.
Thunder belongs to Russell Westbrook
I doubt that there is any other team in the league, which is as dependent on their leader as Thunder is dependent on Russell Westbrook. To put in numbers, Westbrook is averaging a triple double per game this season. Also, his decision making on the court is getting better with every game and I truly believe that he still has plenty of room to improve… With all due respect, I still believe that Russell’s basketball IQ is a little below average and he mainly relies on his physical abilities. Just imagine what would happen if he would start using that thing above his shoulders as well.
During the last game against the Houston Rockets, Russell Westbrook scored 49 points and was the reason why Thunder only lost by 2 points. He also made 8 three-pointers, which is his career high. When a player with stats of Westbrook is still making career highs, I start to wonder if there are any limits for him. Hopefully not, because I would really love to see how Russell is beating the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals. He deserves that sweet revenge.
Steven Adams has found his scoring game, averages 12 points, and is playing as the main big guy in OKC. Also, other big guys like Kanter, Sabonis, and Lauvergne are always waiting for their moments and usually capitalize on them
Denver Nuggets
Before the start of the season, I have predicted in one of my articles that the Denver Nuggets will finish 9-11, and will fail to advance to the playoffs just by a short margin. They are currently 10th in the Western Conference, only 1 victory short of the playoffs. However, I still think that lack a true superstar and inexperience will be the main factors why the Nuggets won't make it to the next stage.
However, I would be more than glad if Denver Nuggets would prove me wrong. And they have all the talent in the world to do so. Any basketball fan knows what Danilo Gallinari is capable when he feels the rhythm. Also, Nikola Jokic is improving faster than anyone could expect. I think that he will be a star of NBA if he keeps improving this fast. Also, a good sign for the Nuggets is that Chandler is back in his best form after the injury last year. So, there are many positives in this Nuggets team. They might be a little average on the defensive end of the court, but their fast offense balances things out.
Of course, their poor 14-22 record shows that there are more bad things in the Denver Nuggets' team at this moment, but a weak Western Conference keeps them into the race for the play-offs spot.
No true leader yet. Nikola Jokic is the future
At this moment 10 players are averaging 8 or more points per game in Denver Nuggets. That makes Nuggets one of the most unpredictable teams in all the NBA. One day we might see Nuggets miserably losing to 76ers, while next day they might beat Cavaliers. This inconsistency is caused by the young age of the players.
Anyway, it can be used as a weapon as well. Nuggets' opponents can never know if they will have to defend Chandler, Gallinari, Jokic, or Harris on any given day, and you cannot have a game-plan against all of them.
My main issue with the Nuggets, is on paper their leader is Danilo Gallinari. Yes, he is a great player, but only as a second option. Gallinari does not have required attributes to be the leader of a winning team. He is just too unpredictable and reckless. Also, he is a little too greedy and just keeps shooting the ball, even when, it is clearly not his day.
That is why Denver Nuggets fans should be really excited about Nikola Jokic's progress during the last couple of years. He is averaging 13 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.7 assists at the moment. Jokic can play as a power forward or center depending on the need. That only increases his price. Also, he is probably one of the best big guys in the league when it comes to passing the ball to open teammates. This guy just sees the court perfectly and his basketball IQ makes me positive about his future in the NBA. Just give him few more years to gain maturity. I predict that Nuggets will be contenders to win Western Conference in a couple of years.
Prediction
Thunder is a better team today. They will have problems stopping Nuggets' big guys, but I think that Westbrook and Oladipo will make sure to compensate it with their drives to the basket. I cannot imagine it being a low scoring game, so I think the final score will be something like 120-110 to Thunder's favor.
Pay Plays
This video by @furion shows Pay Plays more in depth
@steemsports introduces the all new PAY PLAY prediction games available only on our web-app, join in the fun by following these easy steps:
1) Simply sign-up on https://steemsports.com with a username and email address.
2) Choose a game you wish to play and enter the game page
3) Select your prediction outcome and the PAY PLAY funding options in Steem or SBD will be revealed
4) Enter the amount you wish to PLAY and authenticate with your active key.
5) Wait for the game to end and the results to be published on https://steemsports.com/payouts and winners to be automatically paid out.
Disclaimer: While our web-app does not store your Steem active key in the browser or in cookies or in any way at all, it may be best to seed a secondary account with the exact amount you wish to PLAY and use that to enter the game.
Presenter: @writingamigo
Originally, Kasparas is from Lithuania, and that automatically means that he is crazy for basketball. He is a geek for sports as he grew up watching everything that was airing (even curling once). Nowadays, Kasparas is practicing kick-box and traveling around Central & South America. The biggest heartbreak in his life so far, was when Italy beat Lithuania in 2004 Olympic basketball semi-finals.
Why do you need active key if we are paying from wallet?
You can either play trough the app, in which case you need to enter active key/password each time. The app doesn't remember those keys for security reasons. You can also play manually by sending funds with a memo of your selected outcome trough steemit wallet.
Just generate the memo on the steemsports site by clicking the winner, and include that memo with your bet amount to do it manually from steemit.com.
Do you intend to start using the steem login app that busy developped?
Rules | How To Play SteemSportsneeds to be changed to pay play rules/distributionsThanks for the heads up;)..I will actually get that linked page updated also with all the new information aswell:)
EDIT: We have a new post coming out hopefully tomorrow that will update members on the new plans we have install for them in regards to the free plays missing void. So the page will be updated then.
This post has been ranked within the top 10 most undervalued posts in the second half of Jan 07. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $71.10 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jan 07 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.