Oklahoma City Thunder: 5 Make Or Break Games Without Kevin Durant

Nov. 7 vs. Memphis Grizzlies:

Three nights after being in Canada, the Thunder take the floor against a tough Grizzlies team that took OKC to seven games in the playoffs last year…with the league’s MVP on the floor. Without him available, the Thunder will be hard-pressed to squeak out a win against Memphis’ grit-n-grind style, even at home. Westbrook got the best of Mike Conley last postseason with a monster seven-game series, but it’ll take a lot more than one player to take down the Grizzlies.

Defense will obviously be the focus of this game. Memphis’ offense consists of Conley driving, Marc Gasol catching the ball at the elbow, Zach Randolph getting offensive put-backs and Tayshaun Prince bricking 15-footers. That’s not exactly hard to defend, but the Grizzlies will also make OKC’s usually potent offense work for every basket they get on the other end.

One area where the Thunder will need to excel is with their substitutes. Obviously this is a particularly weak area for Oklahoma City, but the Grizzlies don’t have a terrific group of reserves either. Vince Carter gives Memphis a little bit of scoring off the pine, but if the young players can step up and support Westbrook, Ibaka and Jackson — who usually has been tough for the Grizzlies to defend — then this could be a steal of a win.