Winners of three of their last four, the Oklahoma City Thunder has been on a roll lately. At 18-22, the Thunder is just 1.5 games back from a play-in spot in the Western Conference standings and just 2 games back 7th place. After rolling over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, OKC is set to host the Miami Heat on Tuesday night in a game that will be nationally televised, a rarity for the Thunder over the last few seasons.
After losing in the NBA Finals a few years ago and the Eastern Conference finals last year, Miami has had a roller coaster of a season so far, struggling just to get to .500. At 21-20, the Heat have won 8 of their last 13, yet they are still trying to find some type of consistency on the court. Injuries have been a major contributor to Miami’s struggles, but in spite of having the third-most missed games due to injury, the Heat maintain a 1.5-game lead in the Southeast Division.
OKC has dealt with their share of injuries over the last few seasons, and currently they are missing a handful of their front court players. Still, Miami wins the “injury competition,” with an injury report twice as long as the Thunder’s. Still, OKC is a slight underdog, but playing in front a national TV audience might be enough incentive to give the Thunder a little extra focus to go out and win.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6:30 PM CT
Location: FTX Arena (Miami, Florida)
Television: TNT
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Miami Heat Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Luguentz Dort
- C: Kenrich Williams
Heat
- PG: Gabe Vincent
- SG: Tyler Herro
- SF: Haywood Highsmith
- PF: Jimmy Butler
- C: Bam Adebayo
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (non-displaced fractured right wrist).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (left tibial plateau; non-displaced fracture).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (sprained right ankle).
Heat
- Bam Adebayo is QUESTIONABLE (right wrist contusion).
- Dewayne Dedmon is PROBABLE (plantar fasciitis in left foot).
- Udonis Haslem is QUESTIONABLE (right achilles tendinosis).
- Tyler Herro is QUESTIONABLE (left achilles soreness).
- Nikola Jovic is OUT (lower back stress reaction).
- Kyle Lowry is OUT (left knee discomfort).
- Caleb Martin is OUT (strained left quadriceps).
- Duncan Robinson is OUT (surgery on right 2nd finger).
- Gabe Vincent is PROBABLE (left knee effusion).
- Omer Yurtseven is OUT (left ankle surgery).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City, the Thunder is 14-14 against the Heat (7-8 at home, 7-6 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City, the Thunder has won the season series 3 times, lost it 4 times, and tied 6 times.
- The Thunder went 0-2 against the Heat last season (0-1 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- The Thunder is 0-1 against the Heat so far this season (0-1 at home, 0-0 on the road).