We haven't had to wait long NBA Fans. The time has come for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State to square off on this epic Friday afternoon match up for us here in Sydney.
I don't know if anyone expected OKC to start 4-0, but led by the brilliant play of Russell Westbrook, the team hasn't missed a beat without their former MVP Kevin Durant.
Westbrook's stat line this season is nothing short of phenomenal. 37.8 PPG, 10.8 RPG and 10 APG. His former running buddy in KD has no doubt been the best of the new "Big 4" averaging 28.5 PPG, 9 RPG and 4 APG. This match up between the two former team mates has every NBA Fans mouth watering! There's no doubt once Durant's single hits the Throwback Store they'll be sure to go off the racks quicker than we can put them on so make sure to get that pre order in.
Steph Curry hasn't been in the greatest form to start the season, but let's face it, he wasn't really human in the regular season last season.
His other "splash brother" Klay Thompson has also been ice cold from the 3 to start this season. There's no doubt though with such a big match up tonight, it won't be long before this star duo is lighting up that 3 point line again.
Russell loves this match up with Steph. He torched him in last seasons WCF. There won't be many surprises if Klay matches up on Westbrook in this contest to allow Steph to do his thing down the other end of the floor. Being that there's no rim protector in Golden State anymore after the departure of Andrew Bogut, Russ will have free lanes to the rim and we can see some more monster rim rocking slams today.
Elsewhere around the league, you have to be impressed with the play of James Harden. It is well noted his efforts on the defensive end of the floor are poor, but his numbers playing his first season as a PG have been awesome. His euro step move on Derrick Rose yesterday at the Garden had fans jumping out of their seats. Harden has averaged 31.8 PPG, 12.4 APG and 7 RPG. For someone who we all thought didn't like passing the rock up this season, he's been able to do so very well early on this season. There's no doubt he's in discussion for early MVP honours.
Damian Lillard is another who's started great in Rip City. Dame is averaging 32.6 PPG, 4.6 APG and 6 RPG. Portlands inconsistent play has confused a lot of people including myself and they've really got to find a way to get going when Lillard has a breather. They paid Evan Turner a lot of money (along with Crabbe) to carry that second unit so Rip City hopes it won't be too long before they get this right.
The Brow has also been hooping in NOLA but boy do you have to feel sorry for him with the situation he's in. He's got zero help from a very young team. You would hope they can get him some help so that we don't see a disgruntled superstar wanting out of a city that needs a winner. He's averaging 31.6 PPG and 11.8 RPG, and his game against the Warriors last Saturday was incredible. He was getting doubled and tripled and still managed to put up 45 Points 17 Rebounds!
It's been a great start to the NBA season and there's no doubt it'll continue to get better as we move into the season. Bring on 1.30pm today, here's hoping it's a great contest and I'm pretty sure we all hope Russell can have another monster stat sheet again today.
Dave Bauk