Tip-Off: 6 PM CT
Location: Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (Cleveland, Ohio)
Television: Fox Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live-tweets and discussion during the game
The Oklahoma City Thunder is on 3-game losing streak after dropping a 980-85 decision to the Bucks on Friday night, and tonight’s matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers might be their best chance to get a win for a while. The Cavs are just 10-20 on the season—14th in the Eastern Conference standings—but the Thunder is just a slight favorite.
Cleveland has a strong, young backcourt duo in Collin Sexton and Darius Garland, so that should make for a fun matchup with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort.
The Cavaliers are one of the few teams in the NBA that score fewer points than the Thunder and allow more points than the Thunder. Regardless of how you feel about tanking strategy, this would be a good game for the Thunder to go ahead and win.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Théo Maledon
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Al Horford
Cavaliers
- PG: Collin Sexton
- SG: Darius Garland
- SF: Isaac Okoro
- PF: Cedi Osman
- C: Jarrett Allen
Injuries
Thunder
- Trevor Ariza is OUT (not with team).
- Moses Brown is OUT (G League; two-way).
- Josh Hall is OUT (G League; two-way).
- George Hill is OUT (right thumb surgery).
- Ty Jerome is OUT (G League; on assignment).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (G League; on assignment).
Cavaliers
- Marques Bolden is OUT (G League; two-way).
- Matthew Dellavedova is OUT (concussion protocol).
- Andre Drummond is OUT (personal reasons).
- Kevin Love is OUT (strained right calf).
- Larry Nance Jr. is OUT (fractured finger).
- Taurean Prince is OUT (sore left ankle).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 11-12 against the Cavs (6-6 at home, 5-6 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Cavs twice, lost 4 times, and tied 5 times.
- The Thunder won the season series with the Cavs 2-0 a year ago (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won 6 of the last 7 games against the Cavs, including 3 in a row at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.