The Oklahoma City Thunder continued their struggle down the final stretch of the season as they fell to the Phoenix Suns 128-118 at home on Sunday evening. The Thunder showed promising signs of being able to compete with the league’s best, but with just a few games left, OKC has yet to clinch a play-in spot. They could move another step in that direction tonight as they head out on the road to take on the Golden State Warriors.
At 38-41, the Thunder is 10th in the Western Conference, a full game ahead of the 37-42 Dallas Mavericks. OKC’s magic number is 2, meaning they need a total of 2 Thunder wins/Mavericks losses to clinch the spot. Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors are 41-38 and clinging to the 6th spot in the West, just a half game ahead of both the Lakers and the Pelicans.
Due to the proximity of teams fighting for spots in the playoff race, this game has a lot riding on it for both teams. The Warriors are near double-digit favorites, but OKC was able to get a win at home against Golden State nearly a month ago. Despite the spread, I anticipate a close game tonight, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it came down to the final possession.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
Location: Chase Center (San Francisco, 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, Golden State Warriors Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Jaylin Williams
Warriors
- PG: Stephen Curry
- SG: Klay Thompson
- SF: Dante DiVincenzo
- PF: Draymond Green
- C: Kevon Looney
Injury Report
Thunder
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Kenrich Williams is OUT (scapholunate ligament rupture in left wrist).
Warriors
- Andre Iguodala is OUT (left wrist surgery).
- Ryan Rollins is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Andrew Wiggins is OUT (personal reasons).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 23-28 against the Warriors in the regular season (15-11 at home, 8-17 on the road) and 3-4 in the playoffs (2-1 at home, 1-3 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series with the Warriors 6 times, lost it 6 times, and tied twice.
- The Thunder went 0-3 against the Warriors last season (0-2 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- The Thunder is 1-2 against the Warriors so far this season (1-1 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- The Thunder hast los