Tip-Off: 5 PM CT
Location: Amway Center (Orlando, Florida)
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’s losing streak is alive and well, sitting a season-high eight consecutive losses, but that might come to an end as they wrap up a 3-game road trip when they take on the Orlando Magic later this evening. The Magic are similar to the Thunder in that they are a young team that is early in a rebuild. They’re different, though, because they lack the superstar that OKC has in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
SGA is questionable to play for his third game in a row, but in the previous two, he’s played and played well. Since the All-Star Break, Shai has been one of the best players in the entire league, so OKC will definitely have a chance at a win tonight if he does indeed play.
As we near the end of the season, the Thunder continues to hang around the bottom of the standings, which is exactly where they want to be. Because they are essentially fighting Orlando for a chance at the #1 pick in the upcoming draft, there’s no telling what the strategy will be for tonight’s game, but if I had to bet on it, I would say the Thunder will at least come close to pulling out a win if they don’t actually win the game.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Tre Mann
- SG: Aaron Wiggins
- SF: Aleksej Pokusevski
- PF: Darius Bazley
- C: Olivier Sarr
Magic
- PG: Cole Anthony
- SG: Jalen Suggs
- SF: Franz Wagner
- PF: Wendell Carter
- C: Mo Bamba
Injuries
Thunder
- Luguentz Dort is OUT (left shoulder surgery).
- Derrick Favors is OUT (lower back soreness).
- Josh Giddey is OUT (right hip soreness).
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is OUT (right ankle soreness).
- Ty Jerome is OUT (sports hernia surgery).
- Mike Muscala is OUT (right ankle surgery).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (third metatarsal fracture in right foot).
- Kenrich Williams is OUT (sprained left knee).
Magic
- Bol Bol is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Jonathan Isaac is OUT (left knee injury recovery).
- Jalen Suggs is QUESTIONABLE (right ankle bone bruise.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 19-8 against the Magic in the regular season (11-3 at home, 8-5 on the road).
- In 13 seasons, the Thunder has won the season series with the Magic 6 times, lost it once, and tied it 6 times.
- The Thunder went 1-1 against the Magic last season (0-1 at home, 1-0 on the road).