Tip-Off: 6 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
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 continues their trek towards the end of the regular season where they can rest easy knowing they tanked with the best of them, but tonight the Thunder hosts the Phoenix Suns as fan-favorite Chris Paul makes his return to the 405.
The Sun have already clinched the best record in the NBA and the #1 seed in the Western Conference, so DeAndre Ayton and Devin Booker are both resting tonight, but that doesn’t mean keeping up with them will be any easier. OKC continues to have the bare minimum number of players available to play, and that will be the case again tonight.
Despite his age, Chris Paul continues to be one of the best playmakers in the game, and his ability to command the court is one that is hardly matched. If OKC is capable of keeping the deficit to single digits, I’ll be impressed, but honestly, Thunder fans should just hope for a somewhat quiet night where we don’t set another record for the biggest loss in NBA history.
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Theo Maledon
- SG: Vit Krejci
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Aleksej Pokusevski
- C: Isaiah Roby
Suns
- PG: Chris Paul
- SG: Landry Shamet
- SF: Mikal Bridges
- PF: Cameron Johnson
- C: Javale McGee
Injuries
Thunder
- Darius Bazley is OUT (sprained right knee).
- 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).
- Tre Mann is OUT (strained right hamstring).
- Mike Muscala is OUT (right ankle soreness).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is QUESTIONABLE (flu-like symptoms)
- Jeremiah Robinson-Early is QUESTIONABLE (right foot soreness).
- Kenrich Williams is OUT (sprained left knee).
Suns
- DeAndre Ayton is OUT (rest).
- Devin Booker is OUT (rest).
- Jae Crowder is OUT (right ankle soreness).
- Frank Kaminsky is OUT (stress reaction in right knee).
- Dario Saric is OUT (right ACL tear).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 30-17 against the Suns (17-5 at home, 13-12 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Suns 9 times, tied once, and lost 3 times.
- The Thunder lost the season series with the Suns 1-2 a year ago (0-1 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- The Thunder is 0-3 against the Suns so far this season (0-1 at home, 0-2 on the road).
- The Thunder has lost 5 straight games to the Suns.