The Oklahoma City Thunder take on the league’s best record on Thursday night as the Cleveland Cavaliers are in town, but the Thunder will have to do it without big man Isaiah Hartenstein, who is out with a strained left soleus. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen were dominant in the first matchup between these two teams just 8 days ago, so OKC will have to figure out a way to be successful in matching up small ball with Cleveland’s big men.
The Cavs are 34-5 on the season, just one game better than the Thunder, and just like OKC, they hold a hefty lead in their conference standings. This game won’t affect the overall placement much, if at all, but it would be nice to see OKC get a win after falling to the Cavs in a close one in Cleveland last week.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: NBA on TNT
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, Cleveland Cavaliers Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Aaron Wiggins
- C: Jalen Williams
Cavaliers
- PG: Darius Garland
- SG: Donovan Mitchell
- SF: Dean Wade
- PF: Evan Mobley
- C: Jarrett Allen
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng (G League — on assignment) is AVAILABLE.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (strained left soleus) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (fractured right iliac wing) is OUT.
- Dillon Jones (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (right great toe surgery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
Cavaliers
- Emoni Bates (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Ty Jerome (illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- JT Thor (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Luke Travers (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 15-16 against the Cavs (8-8 at home, 7-8 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Cavs 4 times, lost 5 times, and tied 7 times.
- Last season, the Thunder won the season series with the Cavs 2-0 (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder is 0-1 against the Cavs so far this season (0-0 at home, 0-1 on the road).