The Oklahoma City Thunder’s historic start to the regular season could be in jeopardy on Sunday night as they take on the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City without a handful of key players. Isaiah Hartenstein, Luguentz Dort, Alex Caruso, and Isaiah Joe have all missed extended time recently, but now reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is set to miss his first game of the season with elbow bursitis.
While SGA is the engine that keeps this running on a nightly basis, the Thunder’s roster is no slouch following him. Jalen Williams is a solid second option who can be the main guy when necessary, and the depth that OKC has is probably the best in the league. The Jazz, on the other hand, are an interesting blend of young up-and-comers and older vets. They shouldn’t be overlooked, as they have scored in massive bunches at times this season, but their inability to defend at a consistent level leaves them consistently susceptible.
The key to tonight’s game for OKC is to try to play as cleanly as possible. The Thunder cannot afford to give up points via turnovers or get into early foul trouble. Continue doing the things that align with OKC basketball, and they should be able to get out of Salt Lake City with a win, despite being incredibly shorthanded.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 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: Cason Wallace
- SF: Jalen Williams
- PF: Jaylin Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Jazz
- PG: Keyonte George
- SG: Svi Mykhailuk
- SF: Ace Bailey
- PF: Kyle Filipowski
- C: Jusuf Nurkic
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (nasal fracture) is AVAILABLE.
- Alex Caruso (right quad contusion) is OUT.
- Luguentz Dort (strained right adductor) is OUT.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left elbow bursitis) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (strained right soleus) is OUT.
- Isaiah Joe (left knee soreness) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Chris Youngblood (G League — two-way) is AVAILABLE.
Jazz
- Elijah Harkless (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Walker Kessler (left shoulder injury recovery) is OUT.
- Lauri Markkanen (illness) is OUT.
- Georges Niang (fourth metatarsal stress reaction in left foot) is OUT.
- John Tonje (G League — two-way) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 43-21 (26-6 at home, 17-15 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 13 times, lost it 3 times, and tied once.
- The Thunder went 4-0 against the Jazz last season (2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road).
- OKC is 1-0 against Utah so far this season (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- OKC has won 11 of the last 12 meetings with Utah, including 5 of the previous 6 in Salt Lake City.