The Oklahoma City Thunder sits high atop the Western Conference standings, a full 7.5 games ahead of the second-place Memphis Grizzlies. To put the Thunder’s domination into perspective, the gap between them and the Grizzlies is larger than the gap between the Grizzlies and the 7th-place Minnesota Timberwolves.
OKC gets a chance to extend their gap on Wednesday night as they host the Miami Heat. Miami is still dealing with the fallout of the Jimmy Butler trade, and adjustment has not been easy. Butler only played about half of Miami’s games before his trade, primarily due to suspensions, but with him gone, the Heat are definitely different moving forward.
Miami’s offense struggles to score, so they rely heavily on their defense. OKC knows all about that, but scoring has not been an issue for the Thunder lately. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to crank out MVP-like performances, Jalen Williams is becoming a great second option, and Aaron Wiggins is looking more and more like a true shot creator than a typical bench demon.
The Thunder is a heavy favorite with Miami in town, but don’t expect OKC to blow the game off. 0-0 is the typical mindset, and they have played extremely well lately, even when carrying a big lead against an inferior team. The energy should be high from tip-off, and while the game may remain close early, I would not be surprised to see OKC run away with this one in the second half.
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: FanDuel TV
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, Miami Heat Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Heat
- PG: Tyler Herro
- SG: Duncan Robinson
- SF: Andrew Wiggins
- PF: Bam Adebayo
- C: Kel’el Ware
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng (strained right soleus) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (rest) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (sprained right great toe) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Cason Wallace (strained right shoulder) is OUT.
Heat
- Josh Christopher (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Tyler Herro (stomach illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Jaime Jaquez Jr. (stomach illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Keshad Johnson (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Kevin Love (personal reasons) is OUT.
- Duncan Robinson (stomach illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Terry Rozier (stomach illness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Dru Smith (left Achilles surgery) is OUT.
- Isaiah Stevens (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City, the Thunder is 17-16 against the Heat (8-9 at home, 9-7 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City, the Thunder have won the season series 5 times, lost it 5 times, and tied 6 times.
- Last season, the Thunder went 2-0 against the Heat (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- So far this season, the Thunder is 1-0 against the Heat (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).