The Oklahoma City Thunder is one of the hottest teams in the league right now. Winners of their last 4 and 7 of the last 10, OKC has looked like a playoff team over the last few weeks. While the Thunder still plenty of work to do, they have moved into the playoff conversation, and they should not be taken lightly by any team.
The Thunder hits the road on Friday night to take on the Sacramento Kings, perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far. At 25-18, the Kings are third in the Western Conference, and they have their sights set on making the playoffs, something they haven’t done since 2006.
The Kings are led by De’Aaron Fox and former Thunder play Domantas Sabonis. OKC continues to find a way to win without a true big, but Sabonis is the type of stretch big man that gives even the best teams fits. The Thunder will need to rely on the energy of their young defense if they want to pick up a win in Sacramento, but with the way they have been playing lately, that’s definitely in the realm of possibility.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
Location: Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, California)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
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, Sacramento Kings Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Kenrich Williams
Kings
- PG: De’Aaron Fox
- SG: Kevin Huerter
- SF: Harrison Barnes
- PF: Keegan Murray
- C: Domantas Sabonis
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Eugene Omoruyi is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (left tibial plateau; non-displaced fracture).
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl is OUT (sprained right ankle).
Kings
- Matthew Dellavedova is QUESTIONABLE (non-Covid illness)
- Keon Ellis is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Alex Len is QUESTIONABLE (non-Covid illness).
- Domantas Sabonis is QUESTIONABLE (non-Covid illness).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 33-18 against the Kings (19-5 at home, 14-13 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the regular season series against the Kings 10 times, lost it 3 times, and tied it once.
- The Thunder went 1-3 against the Kings last season (1-1 at home, 0-2 on the road).