The Oklahoma City Thunder survived a close decision in LA against the Clippers on Sunday night, and now they wrap up a brief West Coast trip with a duel against the Kings in Sacramento.
The Kings have lost 3 straight games, and they are struggling to stay afloat in the Western Conference Standings. At 35-36, Sacramento is just a half-game ahead of the Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks for the 9th spot in the West. With one of the toughest remaining schedules to play, the Kings might be on the outside looking in when it comes to the postseason, but they’re not likely to go quiet into the night, so OKC needs to be ready for a tough matchup on the road.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had his worst performance of the season on Sunday night, shooting an abysmal 7-of-29 (24.1%) from the field, so I would expect the MVP candidate to get back on track with a solid performance against a shoddy defense. It wouldn’t hurt if Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren return to the lineup. JDub has been out for a couple of weeks since injuring his hip against the Denver Nuggets on March 10th, and Holmgren has sat out a game here and there over the last few weeks, most recently due to a hip strain.
The Thunder is 2-0 against the Kings so far this season, with the most recent meeting nearly two months ago in which the Thunder blasted Sacramento 144-110 in OKC, and SGA didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. I would be surprised if there was another blowout of that magnitude tonight, but don’t be shocked if OKC wins this one by double digits.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 9 PM CT
Location: Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, California)
Television: 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, Sacramento Kings Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Kings
- PG: Malik Monk
- SG: Zach Lavine
- SF: DeMar DeRozan
- PF: Keegan Murray
- C: Domantas Sabonis
Injury Report
Thunder
- Ousmane Dieng (strained left calf) is OUT.
- Alex Ducas (strained right quad) is OUT.
- 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.
- Cason Wallace (left knee contusion) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Aaron Wiggins (left Achilles tendinitis) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hip) is QUESTIONABLE.
Kings
- Devin Carter (illness) is OUT.
- Doug McDermott (right elbow soreness) is OUT.
- Malik Monk (illness) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 37-23 against the Kings (22-7 at home, 15-16 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).
- So far this season, the Thunder is 2-0 against the Kings (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).