(Photo: Reuters/Jeff Haynes)Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder reads the Bible before his games. (File)

Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Hornets takes place Friday night with the Thunder looking to reassert their league credentials following a lackluster start to the season. The game is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. ET and can be watched online through live stream (details below).

Oklahoma City Thunder go on the road to the Big Easy in this match up. They are currently 6-3 in the league so far, but have largely failed to impress and have not lived up to pre-season expectations at this point.

With players like Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in their team the Thunder should be setting arenas on fire with their play, but they have struggled in many games this year so far.

A perfect example was in the Thunder's last game against the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons are widely being considered the whipping boys of the league this year, having lost their first eight straight games of the season. Most would expect the Thunder to run all over the Pistons. However, when they faced off in the Thunder's last game it became a scrappy and closely fought affair.

In that game the Thunder managed only 10 assists all game, and Westbrook in particular looked like he was struggling as point guard.

There appears to be a huge gap left in the Thunder team by James Harden's departure, and with him missing, Oklahoma City seem to be missing a stand out playmaker.

That's not to say the Thunder are not still clearly one of the favorites to make the play offs, but rather on their current form not many would suggest they could go all the way to win the title. Their current struggles have seen the San Antonio Spurs move ahead of them, and the Los Angeles Lakers also applying pressure.

The Thunder will be looking for a confidence building win today; one which they can build upon and establish themselves as one of the stand out teams in the NBA this season.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs New Orleans Hornets tips off at 8 p.m. ET and can be watched online through live stream by clicking here.