The Oklahoma City Thunder’s losing streak continued on Friday night as they dropped a 126-112 decision in Indiana against the Pacers. The three consecutive losses is the first time all season that the Thunder have lost three in a row, but they hope to right the ship as they wrap up the current 5-game road trip in Charlotte on Sunday evening as they take on the Hornets.
OKC is still without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is back home in OKC staying conditioned in anticipation of his return from a quad injury, and Jalen Williams is listed as questionable for tonight with a sprained ankle, but it makes sense that he would make his return after sitting out the last three contests. The Hornets are also down a few key players, including star point guard LaMelo Ball who has missed the majority of this season with a knee injury.
The Thunder still have playoff positioning to sort out, and the Hornets have been effectively knocked out of playoff contention, so it would be easy to say that OKC has more to play for, but they cannot write this off as an easy win. Regardless of who is healthy and playing on the court, the Thunder need to find some positive ground, dig in, and head back to OKC with a win.
Tip-Off: 5 PM CT
Location: Spectrum Center (Charlotte, North Carolina)
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, Charlotte Hornets Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Josh Giddey
- SG: Isaiah Joe
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Charlotte Hornets
- PG: Vasilije Micic
- SG: Tre Mann
- SF: Brandon Miller
- PF: Miles Bridges
- C: Nick Richards
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng is OUT (G League — on assignment).
- Adam Flagler is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is OUT (right quad contusion).
- Gordon Hayward is QUESTIONABLE (strained left posterior tibialis).
- Isaiah Joe is PROBABLE (sprained right ankle).
- Keyontae Johnson is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Olivier Sarr is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Jalen Williams is QUESTIONABLE (sprained left ankle).
Hornets
- Amari Bailey is DOUBTFUL (illness).
- LaMelo Ball is OUT (right ankle tendinopathy).
- Leaky Black is QUESTIONABLE (strained abdominal).
- Seth Curry is OUT (sprained right ankle).
- Cody Martin is OUT (sprained left ankle).
- Nick Richards is QUESTIONABLE (right plantar fascia discomfort).
- Mark Williams is OUT (lower back injury recovery).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 19-10 against the Hornets (10-5 at home, 9-5 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the regular season series against the Hornets 8 times, lost it 3 times, and tied it 5 times.
- The Thunder went 0-2 against the Hornets last season (0-1 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- The Thunder are 1-0 against the Hornets so far this season (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).