After a 4-day break, the Oklahoma City Thunder is back in action on Monday night as they kickoff a 4-game road trip that consists of 3 West Coast games starting in Sacramento against the Kings. They Kings are just 8-9 on the season, and they have lost 3 straight.
The Thunder hasn’t beaten the Kings in Sacramento since January 29, 2020, so they will have to get over that hump to remain atop the Western Conference Standings. Meanwhile, the Kings are just hoping to get back to .500 in an effort to move their way up the standings to get back into playoff contention. The season is still young, though, and as has been proven over the last couple of weeks, just about any team can compete for a win on any given night in the NBA.
With Isaiah Hartenstein available for OKC, the Thunder has a solid option for going head-to-head with former Thunder big man Domantas Sabonis, who has found plenty of success against OKC in recent seasons. Both backcourts have incredible in scorers in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for OKC and De’Aaron Fox for Sacramento with plenty of talent around them, but don’t count on this being a high-scoring game. The Thunder relies heavily on their defense to carry them to victory, and the Kings have been playing some solid defense lately, at least more so than they have been known for in recent history.
First of four on the road ⚡
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 25, 2024
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Game Details
Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
Location: Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, California)
Television: FanDuel TV – 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, Sacramento Kings Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Luguentz Dort
- C: Jalen Williams
Kings
- PG: De’Aaron Fox
- SG: Kevin Huerter
- SF: DeMar DeRozan
- PF: Keegan Murray
- C: Domantas Sabonis
Injury Report
Thunder
- Alex Caruso (strained right hip) is OUT.
- Ousmane Dieng (small fracture in right ring finger) is OUT.
- Alex Ducas (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (fractured right iliac wing) is OUT.
- Isaiah Joe (left calf contusion) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Nikola Topic (left ACL surgery recovery) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
Kings
- Devin Carter (left shoulder surgery) is OUT.
- Isaiah Crawford (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Isaac Jones (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Mason Jones (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
- Malik Monk (sprained right ankle) is PROBABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 35-23 against the Kings (21-7 at home, 14-16 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the regular season series against the Kings 10 times, lost it 3 times, and tied it 2 times.
- The Thunder went 2-2 against the Kings last season (2-0 at home, 0-2 on the road).
- The Thunder has lost 7 straight against the Kings at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.