Leading by a point with just a few minutes remaining, it looked like the Oklahoma City Thunder just might escape Los Angeles with a win against the Clippers on Tuesday night, despite some poor play from both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren. Despite the rest of the team’s best shooting efforts, the Thunder was unable to pull it out as Paul George went on a tear to end the game, giving the Clippers a 128-117 victory as they handed OKC their second straight loss.
Tonight, the Thunder continues their road trip as they take on the streaking Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. Utah has won 6 games in a row and 9 of their last 10 with the lone loss coming against the Celtics in Boston. Not only has Utah been beating teams, they have been destroying them. During the 6 game win streak, Utah’s average margin of victory has been by 17.4 points.
If OKC wants to get back in the win column, they’re going to have to figure out a way to slow down the Jazz on offense, particularly Lauri Markkanen, who is averaging 27.2 points on 54-50-92 shooting splits. SGA hasn’t played well the last couple of games, possibly because of dealing with a sprained knee, but he’s not listed on the injury report, so it’s not a good excuse regardless. If Shai isn’t hitting shots, he is going to need to figure out a way to rely more on his teammates. Either way, the Thunder has the talent and the depth to take care of the Jazz in Utah, and tonight’s matchup should be a fun one.
Tip-Off: 8 PM CT
Location: Delta Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
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: Kris Dunn
- SG: Collin Sexton
- SF: Simone Fontecchio
- PF: Lauri Markkanen
- C: John Collins
Injury Report
Thunder
- NONE
Jazz
- Taylor Hendricks is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Johnny Juzang is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Micah Potter is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Jason Preston 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 37-20 (23-6 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 12 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).
- The Thunder is 1-0 against the Jazz so far this season (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).