Apr 24, 2013; Oklahoma City, OK, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) steals the ball from Houston Rockets guard Patrick Beverly (12) in the second half during game two of the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

In the 2^nd quarter of game two, between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, Patrick Beverly attempted to steal the ball from Russell Westbrook and subsequently sideswiped Westbrook’s right knee. The collision left Russell Westbrook limping off the floor and it has now been revealed that he has a torn meniscus and will probably miss the remainder of the season. This comes as a monstrous blow to the Thunder, who were considered favorites to clinch the Western Conference.

Russell Westbrook has never missed a game in his entire career; NBA, college, or high school. That is about to change. He will undergo knee surgery and likely miss the remainder of the playoffs. The Thunder will head to Houston for game 3 tomorrow night and try to steal a road win without him. Considering they barely held on at home (with the exception of Kendrick Perkins) after the injury, they’re in for a rough go. Suddenly the difference between #1 and #8 isn’t so staggering.

In the absence of Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City will look to the 3 time NBA scoring leader, Kevin Durant, to do what he does best and step up. It’s interesting though, because this season he hasn’t needed to, for the most part. I don’t mean that KD is slacking (he’s absolutely not), but Westbrook had taken over much of the scoring duty that used to be his. Russ even took more shots than Kevin this season, coming to almost exactly one more attempt each game. This is something I have always been critical of Westbrook for; why chuck clunkers when the most efficient shooter in the game is waiting in the wings? Credit where credit is due though, Westbrook has made marked improvements this year and his once spotty decision making is converting from liability to asset. The Thunder will miss him.

The #1 one difference for OKC between this year and last year is the bearded one, James Harden. Although listed as a shooting guard, Harden essentially ran point for their bench last season, winning the Sixth Man of the Year Award in a landslide. However, in the most nauseatingly over-documented trade of 2012, Harden was shipped to Houston. Here’s where OKC is going to hurt; not only do they not have Harden when they need him most, they are in direct competition with him! Houston has an opening and they’ll do everything they can to take it.

So where does this put OKC at point guard? They traded Eric Maynor to the Portland Trail Blazers at the trade deadline because Reggie Jackson was thriving and they no longer needed Maynor’s talents. It was a great move for them at the time, to slough off the excess for a trade exception, but it may come back to bite them. Reggie will draw the start, but it’s hard to have a successful playoff team with a sophomore point guard. Even the veteran leadership of backup point guard, Derek Fisher, may not be enough to guide him through it. I don’t doubt that the Thunder can still beat the Rockets (although you never know), but their second round matchup with the Clippers or the Grizzlies may not be so forgiving.

Without Russell Westbrook for the first time in 5 years, the Thunder’s fate is up in the air. Westbrook is reportedly irate with Beverly, who is now taking the brunt of the blame. If that fire sees him through surgery there is a small chance that he could return later in the playoffs (if the Thunder make it that far). As it stands, he is out until further notice.

@davidmackaypdx | @ripcityproject | davidmackaypdx@gmail.com

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook come to Portland after having disposed of Kobe Bryant and the LA Lakers. Credit: Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Motivation is a hard thing to pin down, especially when applied to professional basketball players. Some are motivated by money; those guys tend to come on strong and fade away once that big contract comes is inked. Some are motivated by making history, or more specifically not being denied their place in history; those guys, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and even LeBron James, will take pay cuts and withstand massive criticism to do their best to guarantee things like Championships. Some are motivated by vanquishing any and all comers all by themselves; those  guys (specifically that one guy named Kobe Bryant) will do anything in his power to ensure he is the most talked about player in the league even as his team continues to fail him on an epic scale.

The Blazers are lucky. They’re a team of guys all basically motivated by the same thing. Damian Lillard talks incessantly about being overlooked at every stage of his career. When Wesley Matthews came to Portland, his intention was to try and earn the big contract he’d be given after being un-drafted as a rookie and having only one season under his belt. Nicolas Batum is Wesley Matthews 2.0 with the added weight of having to deal with almost leaving the Blazers for a division rival. LaMarcus Aldridge plays to prove that he’s just as valuable to his organization as his now departed co-draftee Brandon Roy. And J.J. Hickson is playing to prove be waived by the Sacramento Kings was an indication of that’s organization’s dysfunction and not his lack of professional talent.

From top to bottom, the Blazers are motivated by trying to prove to the league that they belong. That goes nicely with the way they’ve played this season, considering that almost 40 games into 2012-13, their team motivation is now to keep playing into the post season.

Unfortunately, Portland’s Sunday opponent, the Oklahoma City Thunder, is arguably the most motivated team in the NBA. Their motivation isn’t to belong; their motivation is prove that they are the best team in the league. So far, it’s hard to argue against them.

OKC comes into the Rose Garden with the best record in the NBA, coming off a blowout victory of the floundering Lakers in front of a Staples Center crowd that is salivating for the 2016-17 season when LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kevin Durant are all free agents and AT LEAST one of them is heading to Los Angeles.

The Blazers return home after a remarkable showing in Golden State Friday. Considering Portland’s first game of the Heat/Warriors back-to-back was their biggest and most emotional win of the season, that they didn’t roll over in the face of a very good Golden State team should speak volumes.

So the question for Sunday is, which team is going to be more motivated. The Blazers are hot, looking like a seven or eight finisher. The Thunder are number one. The best team doesn’t want to lose to the new hot team. The new hot team doesn’t want to be made a fool of by the biggest dog on the block.

Blazers Starting 5: PG Damian Lillard, SG Wesley Matthews, SF Nicolas Batum, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C J.J. Hickson

Thunder Starting 5: PG Russell Westbrook, SG Thabo Sefolosha, SF Kevin Durant, PF Serge Ibaka, C Kendrick Perkins

Oklahoma City is basically a match-up nightmare for Portland. Not because OKC thrives in the places Portland is weak, but because the Blazers’ strengths are the Thunder’s strengths only the Thunder’s strengths are stronger. Does that make sense?

OK here’s what I mean. Portland’s best offensive options in the last two contests have been Damian Lillard and Nicolas Batum, the point guard and the small forward positions. On Sunday, their opponents at those positions? Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

Say what you will about Russ and his ability/inability to play smart or make clutch decisions, he is one of the most athletic players in the league. He’s a top 10 player, a top five point guard, and he improves every single season. As for Kevin Durant, he’s the second best player in the league, and only because LeBron James is the best basketball player on the planet.

What about at the power forward position? Do I think LaMarcus Aldridge is better than Serge Ibaka? Of course I do. However, LA is option number one for Portland, even in Nic and Dame are playing the best offense for the Blazers right now. Ibaka is option number three for the Thunder. Serge is also a better defender than LaMarcus. He’s going to hound LA when LaMarcus has the ball on offense. When the ball switches directions, he’s going to pull LaMarcus away from the basket with his much improved jump shooting, and punish the Blazers as a team when they double KD or Russ.

The center position is very much the same deal. J.J. Hickson is a worker. He crashes the glass, and scores all of his points by cleaning up his teammates’ misses. You know who else that describes? Kendrick Perkins. Perkins is like J.J. Hickson, just a little bit better, and on a better team.

Portland’s only advantage in the starting five is at the shooting guard position. Wesley Matthews is a better shooter and more important offensive player than Thabo Sefolosha. That being said, Sefolosha is a decent spot-up shooter. If Wes guards Thabo instead of Durant or Westbrook, there’s a chance Thabo stays out by the three-point line, making it basically impossible for Wesley to play the second double-team defender. The solution isn’t to put Wesley on Westbrook though and let Lillard check Sefolosha as a way to hide arguably Portland’s weakest on the ball defender on OKC’s least important offensive weapon. Thabo will have no problem shooting over Dame all night long.

What to Watch For

• Can Damian take his offensive game to the next level. Dame played the best game of his career in his hometown return. His 37-point seven-three pointer outing basically locked up his third straight Rookie of the Month award. He proved he can effectively take over Portland’s offense. Now he needs to prove that he can do be the Blazers’ best weapon on a regular basis. The Thunder are going to double team LaMarcus Aldridge when he catches the ball. If Dame can make OKC turn their defensive focus to him, he can help facilitate a big offensive night for LA. Lillard took 25 shots against the Warriors. Look for him to get up to around 20 field goal attempts against the Thunder
• Will Portland’s bench be able to survive. I broke down only the staring five match-ups for a reason, nobody wants to read about Portland’s bench versus Oklahoma City’s. The Thunder will roll out Kevin Martin (a scoring machine), Nick Collison (one of the best rebounding/inside scoring big men off the bench in the NBA), and Reggie Jackson (Russell Westbrook Junior). The Blazers bench is the Blazers bench. Eight points from Portland’s reserves beat the Miami Heat. Twenty points from the Blazers’ bench wasn’t enough to beat the Warriors. There’s no telling what kind of impact Portland’s reserves can have on a game. If the Blazers’ second unit gets absolutely torched by OKC’s, Portland has no chance.
• Kevin Durant versus Nicolas Batum. KD is the best small forward in the Western Conference (again only second in the league to LeBron James). Nicolas Batum is pretty close to being the second-best small forward in the West. Batum probably won’t make this season’s All-Star Game, even though he probably should. Kevin Durant could be this season’s MVP. Sunday, they go head-to-head. Nic takes a lot of pride in playing well against the best. Expect him to to take it upon himself to stop Kevin Durant as much as humanly possible. Whether or not that means anything remains to be seen.

@mikeacker | @ripcityproject | mike.acker1@gmail.com

The Spurs mob Tony Parker following his game winner in Thursday game against Oklahoma City. Photo courtesy of USPRESSWIRE.

For the second time in this young season, the Blazers face a top-tier conference rival coming off a disappointing loss with a lot of pressing questions to address. At the very least, Portland should have some confidence knowing that they are once again not the team facing enormous pressure to perform.

Blazers Starting 5: PG Damian Lillard, SG Wesley Matthews, SF Nicolas Batum, PF LaMarcus Aldridge, C J.J. Hickson

Thunder Starting 5: PG Russell Westbrook, SG Thabo Sefolosha, SF Kevin Durant, PF Serge Ibaka, C Kendrick Perkins

I might be in the minority here, but I feel like this Thunder roster matches up pretty well with what Portland has. There are going to be a lot of cross defensive match-ups with Wesley Matthews likely spending some time defending Russell Westbrook and the possibility of Thabo Sefolosha checking Damian Lillard in an effort to keep him going to the hoop, but for the most part there isn’t a major area where OKC is head and shoulders above the Blazers.

The Lakers towered over Portland’s bigs, but Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins are not Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. Ibaka and Perkins are a great tandem, but they’re not the offensive juggernaut that the Lakers have inside.

The key for Portland to have a chance in this one will be keeping Kevin Durant outside of the paint, making OKC run a lot of half court sets, and limiting second-chance points. It’s my feeling that the Thunder will want to get out and run in this game as much as possible, by taking high percentage shots and attacking the offensive glass, the Blazers should be able to limit OKC’s ability to run. It’s a tall order, for sure, but if this gets into a running match, Portland doesn’t really stand a chance.

What to Watch For

• Every night is going to be a new test for Damian Lillard for at least the first month or so. Tonight’s match-up with Russell Westbrook is going to be the trial by fire Steve Nash wasn’t. Following such a historic debut, it’s safe to say Lillard confidence is through the roof. He’ll need every drop of that confidence because he’s going to have a rough night staying with Westbrook. If it were up to me, I would lighten Lillard’s load by letting Wesley Matthews take Russ on a few defensive possessions. Damian is going to have such a physical battle when he has the ball that it seems a little foolhardy to beat him up on both ends. I’m guessing Lillard has a good night, he’s that good and his cruising right now, but it’s going to take a lot of work.
• Oklahoma City’s bench is reeling a little right now without James Harden. The spotlight will be on them for a second night in a row. Portland’s bench is, as we know, not great. That being said, if there is a match-up I really think the Blazers can exploit it is Meyers Leonard versus Hasheem Thabeet. Thabeet played 12 minutes in OKC’s opener. When he and Meyers are on the court at the same time, Portland needs to find their rookie center as often as possible. Leonard doesn’t have a ton of low post moves just yet, but he has the speed to get past Thabeet and he’s a good free throw shooter.
• The pressure is on OKC right now. If Portland can get any kind of lead, especially late, it will be interesting to see if Westbrook goes into hero mode. If that happens, there’s a 50-50 chance it ends poorly for the Thunder.
• LaMarcus Aldridge started like gang busters in Portland’s opener, then faded down the stretch. Let’s see if he can maintain his pace in game two.
• Will Portland remember that this team is beatable, mostly because they have a tendency to forget the basics in crunch time. Just watch Russell Westbrook on last night’s final play.