The Oklahoma City Thunder has clinched not only the Northwest Division but the #1 overall seed in the Western Conference, and they still have 12 games to be played. They continue their trek toward the postseason tonight as they kick off a short West Coast road trip in LA to take on Kawhi Leonard the Clippers.
The Clippers have won 5 games in a row and 8 of their last 9, but the Thunder is no stranger when it comes to ending opposing teams’ win streaks. Still, LA has looked like a much different team lately now that Kawhi Leonard is back in the lineup, and they have started to gel. It doesn’t hurt that James Harden has had some performances lately that will give fans flashbacks of several years back.
It’s hard to say just how hard OKC will try to win games the rest of the way or whether they will prioritize the rest and health of their key guys, but it seems like they will want to try to keep everything business as usual, especially when you have a team that is so young and can bounce back so well.
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, LA Clippers Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Clippers
- PG: James Harden
- SG: Kris Dunn
- SF: Norman Powell
- PF: Kawhi Leonard
- C: Ivica Zubac
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng (strained left calf) is OUT.
- Luguentz Dort (right hip impingement) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (nasal fracture) is AVAILABLE.
- Chet Holmgren (strained left hip) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Ajay Mitchell (right great toe surgery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (left knee surgery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hip) is OUT.
Clippers
- Patrick Baldwin Jr. (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Cam Christie (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Trentyn Flowers (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Seth Lundy (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Jordan Miller (left hamstring tendinopathy) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 33-27 against the Clippers (22-8 at home, 11-19 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Clippers 6 times, tied 4 times, and lost 6 times.
- The Thunder went 2-1 against the Clippers last season (2-0 at home, 0-1 on the road).
- So far this season, the Thunder is 3-0 against the Clippers (2-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won 8 of the last 10 meetings with the Clippers.