OKC struggling: Knicks working out well with Woodson

A look at what’s on tap this weekend in the NBA.

Games to watch: Minnesota at Oklahoma City, Friday; Miami at Oklahoma City, Sunday

Just a few weeks ago, it seemed that the Thunder’s lock on the top seed in the Western Conference was airtight, but over the last 11 games—in which the Thunder have gone just 6-5—some cracks in this team have been evident. The biggest one is Oklahoma City’s inability to get scoring from its frontcourt, which puts pressure on the shooting of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden night in and night out. Those three average 68.4 points per game, while the four primary fourcourt players (Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka, Nick Collison and Nazr Mohammed) combine to average just 20.3 points.

What’s more, the defense, which had been much improved this season, has been shaky of late. The Thunder are allowing 98.0 points per game in March, the most points they’ve given up in any month.

“That’s where things are decided for us, on the defensive end,” coach Scott Brooks said. “If we’re not playing hard on the defensive end and doing the right things, we are not the same team.”

That Thunder defense will be tested this weekend, when they take on the sixth-most productive offense in the league (Minnesota) followed by the third-most productive (Miami).

Player to watch: Leandro Barbosa, Pacers
Getting Barbosa at the trade deadline was an underrated move by Pacers president Larry Bird. Indiana badly needed some scoring punch off the bench—the team really needed a jolt of any kind. In his Pacers debut, Barbosa scored 12 points in 18 minutes, and production like that could help bolster a team that had been flagging lately.

Barbosa will face his old team, the Suns, on Friday, and the Pacers get the surging Bucks on Saturday.

Matchup to watch: Steve Nash vs. Kyrie Irving, Suns at Cavaliers, Sunday
When Irving was born, Nash was a senior in high school, getting ready to pack up and head to Santa Clara. A new guy vs. old master matchup is always fun, and given the way these two have played—Nash at age 38, Irving turning 20 on Friday—this will be an entertaining individual pairing.

Irving is a shoo-in for this year’s rookie of the year trophy, averaging 19.0 points and 5.7 assists, and has been hot lately, scoring 25.5 points per game in the Cavaliers’ last four times out. Nash is putting up 13.3 points and a league-best 11.0 assists for the Suns, who have pulled themselves back into the West playoff picture but are struggling on their current road trip.

On a roll: New York Knicks
Maybe Mike D’Antoni’s offense was holding these guys back after all.

Since replacing D’Antoni with assistant Mike Woodson, the Knicks have reeled off five straight wins, and scored 100-plus points in the first four of those wins. That has New York a game under .500 with the Raptors scheduled on Friday and the Pistons at home Saturday. Those are must-win games for the Knicks, who are trying to fend off the Bucks in the race for the final playoff seed—and Milwaukee comes to Madison Square Garden on Monday.

Of course, the Knicks are also thinking bigger-picture: They’re only two games behind Boston and three behind Philadelphia, who they beat the other night, in the race for the Atlantic Division lead.

“It was a big situation for us,” Amare Stoudemire said of knocking off the Sixers. “We needed a win and this was very important to keep our momentum going.”

Getting desperate: New Jersey Nets
There have been injuries, and there has been trade-rumor turmoil. But all told, there is no way the Nets should be as bad as they’ve been throughout the year, and now, it just seems that they’re not trying very hard. In their last three games, New Jersey lost to the Hornets, Cavaliers and Wizards, teams with a combined 39-96 record.

With point guard Deron Williams and small forward Gerald Wallace heading into free agency this summer, you have to wonder what kind of roster this team will have when it opens up the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.