Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder are in New Orleans today to take on the Hornets, game tipping at the usual 7 Central.

The Thunder are 27-21 on the season, 12-11 on the road and just a game ahead of the Hornets in the standings. They’ve won three straight after a three-game losing streak, most recently beating the Hawks in OKC 106-99 last night. Durant scored 33 points and grabbed 11 boards in that one, while Russell Westbrook was a board and a dime shy of a triple double.

Tonight’s game is the second of three meetings between the Hornets and Thunder this season. New Orleans won the first showdown back on January 6th in Oklahoma City, when all five Hornets’ starters scored in double figures and Chris Paul shut down KD in the crunch.

The Hornets are coming off Monday’s loss to the visiting Phoenix Suns. Chris Paul has missed the past two games with a knee injury and it was announced earlier today that he will undergo surgery tomorrow. Expect him to miss another month or so. Darren Collison has stepped in and delivered a total of 33 points and 32 assists in the last two games.

Linkage:

• Earlier on the blog: Ryan’s game preview and analysis
• Lagniappe: Rookie awards, time running out for Peja, and plenty more
  
• Rival bloggers: Blue Blitz | Daily Thunder.com (THN) | Thunder Rumblings

(Many thanks to Dariusz for today’s banner featuring Ryan Bowen, who played in 74 games for the Hornets the last two seasons, and one game for OKC this season before being cut in November. Be sure to check out more of Dariusz’s designs in our Wallpapers vault.)