Shai Gilgeous-Alexander missed a shot at the buzzer in Thursday night’s game in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz resulting in a 120-119 loss. The loss pushes the Thunder to two games below .500 on the season and 11th in the Western Conference Standings.
OKC continues their short two-game road trip on Friday night as they take on the Phoenix Suns in the second game of a back-to-back. The Suns are 32-28 and currently sit at 5th in the West, but their placement in the standings is expected to change perhaps sooner than later due to a blockbuster trade that was made bringing Kevin Durant to Phoenix. Durant is set to make his debut in a couple of days as he finishes up his recovery from a sprained MCL in his right knee.
Tonight’s matchup is the first of four meetings between these two teams over the next 40 days, and while the end of the regular season is still six aways, it’s not crazy to say that this game could have major playoff implications. OKC appears to be fighting to make at least the play-in round, but if they let games like last night continue to slip away, they made be bound for the draft lottery once again.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
Location: Footprint Center (Phoenix, Arizona)
Television: ESPN and 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, Phoenix Suns Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Jaylin Williams
Suns
- PG: Chris Paul
- SG: Devin Booker
- SF: Josh Okogie
- PF: Torrey Craig
- C: DeAndre Ayton
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (left tibial plateau; non-displaced fracture).
Suns
- Kevin Durant is OUT (MCL sprain in right knee).
- Josh Okogie is AVAILABLE (nasal fracture).
- Cameron Payne is QUESTIONABLE (sprained right foot).
- Landry Shamet is OUT (right foot soreness).
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 4 times.
- The Thunder lost the season series with the Suns 1-3 a year ago (1-1 at home, 0-2 on the road).
- The Thunder has lost 3 straight games to the Suns in Phoenix.