The end of the regular season is near, and the Oklahoma City Thunder is sitting the majority of their key guys ahead of the playoffs. OKC handily defeated the Phoenix Suns 125-112 on Wednesday night despite missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Cason Wallace, and now Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren sit out as the Thunder takes on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City.
Even without all those guys, the Thunder is a heavy favorite, and that is likely due to Utah missing a chunk of their own players. The Jazz are settled in at the bottom of the West, but they are tied with the Washington Wizards for the worst record in the league, so winning a game at this point will do them nothing but harm as they need all the help they can get in the draft lottery.
Some good news for the Thunder, though, as Ajay Mitchell is set to make his return after being out the last few months due to toe surgery. Mitchell had worked his way into the rotation prior to his injury, and it’s hard to tell if he will be able to contribute at all during the playoffs. Still, it will be good to see him healthy and back in action.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Delta Center (Salt Lake City, Utah)
Television: FanDuel Sports Network – 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, Utah Jazz Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Ajay Mitchell
- SG: Isaiah Joe
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Kenrich Williams
- C: Jaylin Williams
Jazz
- PG: Isaiah Collier
- SG: Collin Sexton
- SF: Johnny Juzang
- PF: Brice Sensabaugh
- C: Kyle Filipowski
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 41-21 (26-6 at home, 15-15 on the road) against the Jazz in the regular season and 2-4 (2-1 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 Jazz 12 times, lost it twice, and tied once.
- The Thunder went 3-1 against the Jazz last season (2-0 at home, 1-1 on the road).
- So far this season, the Thunder is 3-0 against the Jazz (2-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- OKC has won 9 of the last 10 meetings with Utah, including 3 of the last 4 in Salt Lake City.