The Oklahoma City Thunder continued to bring the Paycom Center back into relevance on Friday night as Chet Holmgren sank three free throws at the end of regulation to force overtime against the Golden State Warriors. The Thunder’s youth won out against the experience of the Warriors as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to look like a legit MVP contender, Chet Holmgren is looking more and more like Rookie of the Year, and Jaylen Williams is earning a spot in the conversation of the league’s best young guards.
The Thunder plays another game in front of the home crowd on Monday night as they host the Utah Jazz. The Jazz have had better days as they are sit at 12th in the Western Conference standings with a 7-15 record. OKC knows all about how it feels to be a young, rebuilding organization, but now it’s the Thunder’s team to beat up on some of the lesser teams in the league.
If OKC comes out with the focus of a talented and experienced squad, they should be able to handle Utah just fine. Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to play down to your opponent, so the Thunder cannot for one second just blow this game off like it means nothing. It would do them well to take care of this game early, build a big lead, and let everybody get some quality play time ahead of a two-game road trip later this week.
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, Utah Jazz Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Jazz
- PG: Keyonte George
- SG: Jordan Clarkson
- SF: Simone Fontecchio
- PF: John Collins
- C: Kelly Olynyk
Injury Report
Thunder
- Luguentz Dort is QUESTIONABLE (sprained left ankle).
- Keyontae Johnson is OUT (G League — two-way).
Jazz
- Josh Christopher is OUT (G League — two-way).
- John Collins is QUESTIONABLE (illness).
- Johnny Juzang is OUT (G Leageu — two-way).
- Walker Kessler is OUT (right foot soreness).
- Lauri Markkanen is OUT (strained left hamstring).
- Micah Potter is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Brice Sensabaugh is OUT (G League — on assignment).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 36-20 (22-6 at home, 14-14 on the road) against the Jazz in the regular season and 2-4 (2-1 at home, 0-3 on the road) in the playoffs.
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Jazz 11 times, lost it twice, and tied once.
- The Thunder went 3-1 against the Jazz last season (2-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).