Just a couple of weeks ago, it looked like the Oklahoma City Thunder might be ready to tank. Losers of 5 straight out of the All-Star Break, playoff chances were dwindling. Since then, OKC has won 5 of the last 6 and is currently tied for 9th place in the West with a 33-35 record. They have a chance to inch a little higher up the standings Tuesday night as they host the Brooklyn Nets.
The Thunder defeated the nets 112-102 in Brooklyn a couple of months ago, but the Nets look very different since then. Kyrie Irving is in Dallas, Kevin Durant is in Phoenix, and Brooklyn has actually played pretty well since the trade deadline. Because the Nets are a lot more balanced now than they were before, they could be a lot more difficult to play, but OKC is actually slightly favored. If the Thunder can win this one, they could move up as far as T-8th in the standings.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 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
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, Brooklyn Nets Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jaylen Williams
- C: Jaylin Williams
Nets
- PG: Spencer Dinwiddie
- SG: Mikal Bridges
- SF: Cameron Johnson
- PF: Dorian Finney-Smith
- C: Nic Claxton
Injury Report
Thunder
- Jared Butler is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Olivier Sarr is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Kenrich Williams is OUT (scapholunate ligament surgery in left wrist).
Nets
- David Duke Jr. is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Ben Simmons is OUT (left knee/back soreness).
- Dru Smith is OUT (G League — two-way).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 17-9 against the Nets (7-5 at home, 10-4 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Nets 6 times, lost it once, and tied 7 times.
- The Thunder went 1-1 against the Nets last season (0-1 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder is 1-0 against the Nets so far this season (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).