After a surprising loss at home in a week 9 matchup against the Washington Redskins the Seattle Seahawks (5-3) go into Arizona and look to bounce back against the Arizona Cardinals (4-4) for a Thursday night week 10 matchup. After a slow start the Cardinals managed to get to .500 and look to come a game closer to the Los Angeles Rams for 1st in the NFC West, While the Seattle Seahawks look to be a half a game behind for the lead in the division. Head coach Bruce Arians is 3-1 against the Seahawks in Seattle but 0-3- 1 against them at home since becoming the head Cardinals coach in 2013. The Cardinals are looking to go on a 2 game winning streak after a 20-10 win on Sunday against San Francisco 49ers. Look for The Cardinals to attack a banged up Seattle secondary with safety Earl Thomas being doubtful, and cornerback Richard Sherman being questionable for tonight’s game.
Seattle would have to look to stop the running game of The Arizona Cardinals, after seeing veteran running back Adrian Peterson rush for 134 and 159 yards in two of his first three games with the team since being traded from New Orleans. Peterson looks to still be in his prime and not a washed up 32-year-old running back. If The Cardinals hope to beat the Seahawks, they would have to limit turnovers with the quarterback, Drew Stanton filling in for starting quarterback Carson Palmer. Cardinals expect to be near full strength for tonight’s game while The Seahawks are dealing with injuries to key players, but I still expect the Seattle Seahawks will be ready for tonight’s game, and expect a bounce back from a tough loss to the Redskins.
Coming into this season the Arizona Wildcats will be leaning on their junior guard Allonzo Trier. This will be a huge year for Trier as he’s getting that preseason respect/buzz from the media all across the nation. Allonzo was named to the “AP Preseason First All-America” team and has a lot of eyes on his game. ESPN ranked him 4th in the country and he’s ready to prove to everyone that this is his year on and off the court. One thing that Trier has been consistent with besides his smooth jumper and handle is his kicks that he rocks on and off the court. This season we will be focusing on what he wears on the court and off the court to give his fans another side of Zo that they may not know. In previous season Allonzo was rocking nothing but heat and wants to follow that up heading into this junior year. Below we will showcase some of Zo’s best sneaker moments in the past and fast forward to the present. The thing that us at SneakerReporter.com love about Allonzo is that he’s humble, genuine, and he’s a true sneakerhead that is passionate about basketball and his sneakers. A lot of ballers just wear things to be fashionable but Zo actually knows the history and wants to make a statement every time he hits the court in some new or old heat. Check with SneakerReporter.com for exclusive footage with Allonzo Trier & his segment “What Are Zo’s” for the whole season as he tries to take the University of Arizona to the NCAA Tournament and bring home a National Championship this season. Zo’s one of the best guards if not the best in college baksetball right now and will make his way into a lot of households this season we promise you. Allonzo will be lacing up all the best Nikes this season and looks to come after that “Collegiate Sneaker King” award that he’s had for years now.
This season so far Allonzo Trier has wore the Nike Kyrie 2 and The Nike PG1 in some special colorways check them out below
The Boston Celtics came into this game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on a six game winning streak. The Thunder were coming off beating the Milwaukee Bucks with impressive defense. Everyone thought the Thunder found their chemistry in the last two games and were going to be able to continue that success against the Celtics. OKC came out looking unstoppable as they were able to connect on anything that they did early. Russell Westbrook was able to get his teammates involved and was able to find Adams,George, and Anthony in their sweet spots. The biggest difference in this OKC team that was shown in the last couple of games is the defensive end. OKC has stepped the defense up to another level and they also were able to stop Kyrie Irving in the first half. Both teams came into the matchup the number 1 & 2 defenses in the NBA and it was on full display as it was a tale of two halves as Billy Donovan said after the game.
Oklahoma City’s Big 3 finished the game with 54 points and majority of it came in the 1st half against Boston. For the first time Carmelo Anthony struggled with his shot in a Thunder uniform. Melo finished the game with 10 points on 3-17 shots from the field. One thing about Melo is he’s a true professional and knows how to bounce back. Melo didn’t have it going but that didn’t mean that Westbrook and George couldn’t help pick up the offense to help Melo. The best thing about George and Westbrook as a back court is the fact that they turn defense into offense and they did just that in the 1st half. OKC had their biggest lead of 18 points on the night and were able to kind of take the foot off the gas. The Thunder were able to get the bench involved in that first half as well as Grant and Patterson stepped up in big moments during the game when the Thunder needed it. If the Thunder can defend the way they did in the first half against everyone they would be unstoppable. The team is still trying to find that identity and it was defeintely noticable going into the seond half against the Celtics after going up large into the half.
The Celtics were down but felt like they were never out in the game going into the 3rd. Kyrie Irving was missing everything in the 1st half and couldn’t doing anything to get his shot or drives to the basket to fall. All that did was motivate Irving as he was just waiting on his moment in the game and they it clicked automatically. Kyrie Irving was able to get into mismatch situations where he was being guarded by Steven Adams and other bigs on switches. Kyrie was able to will the Celtics back into the game as he was able to hit everything starting around the 8 minute mark in the 3rd. There was a point in the game when Kyrie had 15 points and scored more than OKC in the quarter. Overall it was a scrappy effort for Kyrie to get his young team back into this game. Kyrie is the best finisher in the game and wanted to make an impact against OKC and he did just that. Al Horford also stepped up in the 4th and was hitting some incredible shots that went down when left open by the Thunder. The Thunder defense was not switching in time and they didn’t get to the shooters and paid for it. Horford and Irving combined for 45 points and were in their zone in that 4th quarter. Momentum was on the Celtics side and they continued to play defense and get stops to turn it into offense.
The Thunder have so much potenial and they have what it takes to be a champion. OKC plays great on both ends of the floor and have showed that anything is possible as long as they remain together as a team in those tough times. Kyrie is the best finisher in the game and loves the pressure moment and showcased that tonight. The Thunder will be able to get back on track when they play the TrailBlazers on Sunday.
Coming into this game the hype was all about Paul George playing against his former team the Indiana Pacers. On the flip side the hype was also surrounding Victor Oladipo coming back to OKC after being traded for Paul George. The Thunder started the game off trying to make sure that PG-13 got the ball and was able to flourish in the offense. The only problem is early in the game the George was hit with two quick fouls that got him out of the game and on the bench to cheer on his team. The beauty of the build for this Thunder team is the fact that George has two all stars in Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony to lean on when he struggles. The Thunder were able to attack the paint all night and were able to establish Steven Adams near the rim all night against Domantas Sabonis who played in OKC last year. Adams finished the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Russell Westbrook was making it look easy on the entry passes to Adams for easy buckets.
The Thunder were handling business in the paint and on the offensive end but they needed some help trying to conatin Victor Oladipo. The way that Victor was playing was like he had something to prove to the Thunder fans and the orgnaization. Victor Oladipo had 35 points on the night and was attacking the rim and making majority of his jumpers that he put up. The Thunder weren’t able to stop him from attacking as much when Paul George went out the game it was clear they needed to help. The rest of the really didn’t step up to the plate and help Victor because of the amazing team defense from OKC. The Thunder had 8 blocked shots against the Pacers and were making sure that the defense turned into offense for them all night long.
Russell Westbrook recorded his 2nd triple double of the evening with 28 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. Overall when Russell Westbrook has one of these monster games it results in a win. Westbrook has shown leadership and also has shown that he can share the ball with the best of them in the league. Carmelo Anthony had 28 points and 10 rebounds on the night as he was instant offense from the field and couldn’t be stopped at all. Carmelo Anthony is the defintion of bully ball as he can score inside, outside, and pretty much anywhere he is on the court. Paul George was in foul trouble and both Westbrook/Anthony picked him up on the evening. They will all have nights like George did where he was in foul trouble and scored only 10 points but their brotherhood is going to keep the chemistry going. The way they all play together is extrememly loose and you can tell that they want the best for each other.
Next up for the OKC Thunder is the Timberwolves who they lost too on Sunday. They will be looking to make up for that loss and try to let the Timberwolves know that they run the division.
Minnesota and Oklahoma City came into this season with new faces on the team. Being division rivals that means that they will see each other four times in the year. The Timberwolves added Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford in the offseason and wanted to be taken serious coming into the season to stop their playoff drought. The Oklahoma City Thunder on the other hand have been extremely successful in the 10 year existence off the team and this offseason they improved tremendously. The Thunder added Paul George and Carmelo Anthony which would set up for a perfect matchup.
The Thunder were coming off their first loss of the season against the Utah Jazz last night in Salt Lake and wanted to bounce back. Russell Westbrook was very passive last night in Utah and came out against the Minnesota Timberwolves with the MVP mindset that we all know about. Westbrook came out in attack mode and didn’t look back at all as he was able to attack the rim and get to his spots to help his teammates out. This team in OKC is special and if they can all get on the same page they could be unstoppable. This OKC team is like the “07/08” Boston Celtics with hungry stars that will need to sacrifice to make it work. The OKC Big 3 showed a lot of sacrifice and promise throughout the night against the Timberwolves. The Thunder Big 3 of Westbrook, Anthony, and George combined for 68 points tonight and looked really good. Melo and Russ found their stroke from all over the court and Paul George wasn’t able to get it going but kept shooting. One thing we know about PG is that he’s going to continue to shoot the ball and look for his rythym. One thing that was really good to see tonight from the Thunder was the production from the bench. Raymond Felton and Jerami Grant both contributed 12 points each and were able to carry the load when Westbrook and the other starters went to the bench.
The Timberwolves on the other hand were able to scrap and stay in the game as they played off of their stars in Towns and Wiggins. Both Towns and Wiggins had 27 points a piece and were able to get get open looks and easy second chance points throughout the game. Once Andre Roberson exited the game it seemed as though Wiggins got his game going and was able to hit some tough shots over Abrines. Towns was playing like a monster in the paint and was able to get rebounds and takeover the paint on the offensive end. The good thing about the Timberwolves squad is the fact that it’s well balanced and everyone knows their role in the offense. All of the starters were able to score in double figures and were able to click on all cylinders for the Timberwolves. The Thunder were struggling on the pick and roll from the Timberwolves and couldn’t get to Towns in time throughout the game especially when Steven Adams came out the game.
Russell Westbrook got the inbound pass with 8 seconds left and was able to drive and kick it to Melo for the 3 pointer to give them the lead. Everyone wanted to know who would get the ball in the late game situations and it seems like whoever is open will get the ball. Carmelo hit the 3 pointer but the Thunder needed to hurry up to get back on defense as the Timberwolves still had 4 seconds to have a chance to score. The ball was inbounded to Wiggins as he was able to get down the court with the help of what looked like an illegal screen but Towns and hit a hail mary bank shot with no time remaining for the Timberwolves to come into OKC and steal the victory from the Thunder.
Both teams play again on Friday and the Thunder will be looking for some revenge for this loss tonight.
