With the #1 seed firmly in place, the Oklahoma City Thunder is sitting several key players—namely Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams—as they host the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night.
After playing 8 games in 13 nights, some rest will go a long way for the Thunder as they recover from some minor injuries. As deep as OKC’s roster is, they are still favored against the Portland Trail Blazers, and this will likely turn out to be a great game for fans, even with the bigger names not getting action. Portland is just 28-35 on the season, but they are still within striking reach of making the play-in.
The Western Conference standings are really tight in the middle with just 7.5 games separating the 6th-place Golden State Warriors from the 13th-place San Antonio Spurs. This is the part of the season where health is of the utmost importance as many teams are in a dogfight for placement, and while the Blazers have their share of injuries, they have won 5 of their last 7 games, and they have a lot of young talent that is hungry for some postseason action.
OKC’s depth will be on full display tonight as key contributors like Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe will get the opportunity to lead the way. Without the comfort of playing alongside the likes of SGA and Jalen Williams, the Thunder’s bench will be forced to do more on both ends of the floor, and regardless of the outcome tonight, this game will serve as a quality learning experience that will pay dividends come postseason play.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
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, Portland Trail Blazers Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Alex Caruso
- SG: Isaiah Joe
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Jaylin Williams
Blazers
- PG: Anfernee Simons
- SG: Toumani Camara
- SF: Deni Avdija
- PF: Jerami Grant
- C: Donovan Clingan
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (G League — two-way) is PROBABLE.
- Luguentz Dort (right patellofemoral soreness) is OUT.
- Alex Ducas (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (rest) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (nasal fracture reinjury) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (right lower leg contusion) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Dillon Jones (G League — on assignment) is AVAILABLE.
- Ajay Mitchell (sprained right great toe) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Cason Wallace (right knee contusion) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (sprained right wrist) is OUT.
Blazers
- Deni Avdija (left quad contusion) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Deandre Ayton (strained left calf) is OUT.
- Dalana Banton (personal reasons) is OUT.
- Jerami Grant (right knee tendinitis) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Mattise Thybulle (sprained right ankle) is OUT.
- Robert Williams III (sprained left knee) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 40-26 (21-11 at home, 19-15 on the road) against the Trail Blazers in the regular season and 1-4 (1-1 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 Trail Blazers 7 times, lost it 6 times, and tied 3 times.
- The Thunder went 4-0 (2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road) against the Blazers last season.
- So far this season, the Thunder is 3-0 against the Blazers (1-0 at home, 2-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won 15 straight against the Blazers including 7 straight in OKC.