Charles Barkley not sure if Thunder can get past Heat

National NBA analysts raised some questions about OKC on a national conference call.

 
By Darnell Mayberry | Published: February 7, 2013    Comment on this article Leave a comment

photo - NBA BASKETBALL: Charles Barkley eats a dinner courtesy of  Gov. Mary Fallin during game three of the Western Conference Finals in the NBA playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Thursday, May 31, 2012. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
NBA BASKETBALL: Charles Barkley eats a dinner courtesy of Gov. Mary Fallin during game three of the Western Conference Finals in the NBA playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Thursday, May 31, 2012. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

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Thunder vs. Suns

When: 7 p.m. Friday

Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena

TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma (Cox 37/HD 722, DirecTV 679, Dish 448, U-Verse 754/HD 1754)

Radio: WWLS 98.1-FM, WWLS 640-AM

Three things to know

* The Thunder is 2-0 against Phoenix this season, winning those two games by an average margin of 15 points.

* Phoenix has lost 18 of its last 24 games. The Suns are 5-21 on the road, tied with Sacramento for the worst road record among Western Conference teams.

* These two teams will play again Sunday at Phoenix. It will be the fourth and final meeting of the season.

Barkley agreed.

“No disrespect to Kendrick Perkins, but I think that they should play more small-ball,” Barkley said. “I totally agree with that. (Miami) doesn't have a center on the floor. (Perkins) is not scoring and there's no dominant big man for him to lock down. So if he's not going to dominate on the boards or score down low he's just ineffective.”

Although the Thunder currently owns the league's second best record, Kenny Smith said his biggest question is still how OKC will overcome the loss of Harden, who was traded to Houston in October. The Thunder, Smith said, might struggle not having a secondary playmaker to complement Kevin Durant.

“Will Westbrook be that guy? Because (Harden) was the playmaker,” Smith said. “That's going to be difficult, because the value of James Harden doesn't show in the regular season. It's only going to show in the playoffs. And he's a big-time scorer, a big-time player, as we see.”

Steve and Kenny agreed that the Thunder should look for help before the trading deadline passes in two weeks.

“I love the future of Eric Maynor if he's not hurt; even Reggie Jackson,” Steve Smith said. “But I don't think both of those guys are ready right now. So if you can make some kind of move that you don't give up your core and you can add a point guard, maybe a veteran point guard coming off the bench, that's the only move I'd be expecting.”

As we know, so much is riding on the eventual choices, big and small, that are made.

“For Oklahoma City,” said Kenny Smith, “anything less than getting back to the Finals is not going to be a successful season.”

Barkley, of course, got the last word.

“Nah,” he said, “they got to win it.”

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