Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Chesapeake Energy Arena (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @TheThunderGuys for live-tweets during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder (3-5) fell to the Spurs (5-3) in San Antonio on Thursday, but one thing is for certain about this young Thunder squad: they are staying competitive.
The jury is still out on this team in terms of how far they will go and what they will accomplish this season, but whether they’re winning or losing games, they’re certainly playing hard in the meantime.
Tonight, the Thunder hosts the Golden State Warriors (2-7) for the second time this season already, and this game could end up being as bad as the first one.
In the first matchup, OKC manhandled Golden State by 28 points, and that was when they were healthy. Since then, they have fallen apart at the seams, and their starting lineup is an array of “Who is that guy?” outside of D’Angelo Russell, who made his return from injury last night by dropping a career-high 52 points.
The Thunder’s focus should be on stopping Russell and controlling the paint. If they can do that, they should come away with an easy victory in front of the home crowd.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Chris Paul
- SG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SF: Terrance Ferguson
- PF: Danilo Gallinari
- C: Steven Adams
Warriors
- PG: D’Angelo Russell
- SG: Jordan Poole
- SF: Glenn Robinson III
- PF: Eric Paschall
- C: Willie Cauley-Stein
Injuries
Thunder
- Andre Roberson (return to play management) is OUT.
Warriors
- Steph Curry (left hand fracture) is OUT.
- Jacob Evans III (left abductor strain) is OUT.
- Draymond Green (sprained left index finger) is OUT.
- Kevon Looney (neuropathy) is OUT.
- Alen Smailagić (right ankle sprain) is OUT.
- Klay Thompson (left ACL rehabilitation) is OUT.
By the Numbers
- -9.3: The Warriors’ average +/- (29th in the NBA)
- 1.8: The Thunder’s average +/- (14th in the NBA)
- 1: The Warriors’ NBA rank in both free throw percentage and free throws made per game.
- 19.6: Number of assists per game for the Thunder (28th in NBA)
- 48.2: Percentage of Thunder points that are scored unassisted (2nd in the NBA)
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 20-20 against the Warriors in the regular season (13-7 at home, 7-13 on the road) and 3-4 in the playoffs (2-1 at home, 1-3 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series with the Warriors 5 times, lost it 4 times, and tied twice.
- Oklahoma City went 1-2 against Golden State last season (0-1 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder is 1-0 against the Warriors so far this season (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).
Game Notes
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