Tip-Off: 8 PM CT
Location: EnergySolutions Arena (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Television: Bally 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 roster is getting healthier every day, but so far, it hasn’t equated to success in the form of winning. Losers of 6 straight and 9 of the last 10, winning is not at all the priority, but that doesn’t mean the Thunder can’t continue to improve and develop their young core.
During the streak, OKC has lost by double digits in every game. However, during that time, rookie Théo Maledon is averaging 16.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. He hasn’t shot very well, knocking down just 38.6% of his field goal attempts and 33.3% of his three-point attempts. Still, he’s proving himself to be not just a contributor, but a playmaker, and he has a long future in the NBA, hopefully in OKC.
Tonight, the Thunder takes on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. The Jazz hold the league’s best record at 40-14, and that includes the league’s best home record at 24-3. However, Utah is playing in the second game of a back-to-back while the Thunder is coming off 2 days of rest. I don’t anticipate that OKC will be able to pull off an upset on the road, but maybe they can keep this one within single digits.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Théo Maledon
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Svi Mykhailiuk
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Moses Brown
Jazz
- PG: Mike Conley
- SG: Donovan Mitchell
- SF: Royce O’Neale
- PF: Bojan Bogdanović
- C: Rudy Gobert
Injuries
Thunder
- Gabriel Deck is OUT (not with team).
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is OUT (plantar fascitis in right foot).
- Josh Hall is OUT (concussion protocol).
- Mike Muscala is OUT (right ankle sprain).
- Aleksej Pokuševski is OUT (sore right arm).
- Isaiah Roby is OUT (concussin protocol).
Jazz
- Udoka Azubuike is OUT (severe right ankle sprain).
- Jordan Clarkson is OUT (right ankle sprain).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 33-14 (20-3 at home, 13-11 on the road) against the Jazz in the regular season and 2-4 (2-1 at home, 0-3 on the road) in the playoffs.
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Jazz 10 times, lost it once, and tied once.
- The Thunder went 2-1 against the Jazz last season (1-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder is 0-1 against the Jazz so far this season (0-1 at home, 0-0 on the road).