The Hornets are in Oklahoma City today to take on Kevin Durant and the Thunder. Game tips at 7 Central.

The Thunder are 38-24 on the season, 19-11 at home and they’ve won five of their last six. Durant continues to pour in the points, averaging 29.6ppg on the season, good for second in the League. Russell Westbrook has also been playing well for OKC, averaging 20 points and 9.8 assists in his last ten games.

The Thunder last played on Sunday, beating the Kings in Sacramento, 108-102. Durant led the way with 27 points in that one, though Westbrook proved to be the hero by scoring 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter.

The Hornets are coming off Monday’s much-needed 135-131 win over the Warriors. Lots of big numbers in that one, most notably the 28 points apiece from David West and Marcus Thornton, and a rookie-record 20 assists from Darren Collison. Unfortunately, the Hornets lost Peja Stojakovic to an abdominal injury in the third quarter, and he’s expected to miss a minimum of two weeks. Julian Wright will start in his place tonight.

This will be the third and final meeting between the Hornets and Thunder this season. They split the first two games, with the Hornets using a balanced attack to win in OKC in January, and the Thunder leaning heavily on Durant and Westbrook to steal one in New Orleans in February.

Numbers:

Pace: Thunder 95.5 (13th), Hornets 94.8 (16th)
Offensive Efficiency: Thunder 104.0 (15th), Hornets 104.8 (13th)
Defensive Efficiency: Thunder 100.2 (4th), Hornets 106.2 (19th)

Linkage:

• Journals: The State of the (Hornets) Union
• Lagniappe: Chaos, conversations and video
  
• Standings: Hornets still 10th in the West, five games behind the 8th-place Blazers
• Rival bloggers: Blue Blitz | Daily Thunder.com (THN) | Thunder Rumblings

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today’s banner featuring J.R. Smith. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz’s designs in our Wallpapers vault.)