The Oklahoma City Thunder lost a close one in crunch time on Sunday night in Phoenix as the Suns rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the Thunder on a last-second three-pointer by Devin Booker. The Thunder struggled to get to the free-throw line—something that Phoenix did well—and in the end, it was the Suns who were able to hit big shots, primarily from beyond the arc. OKC has no time to rest, though, as they host the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night.
Charlotte enters this game following a 112-99 win over the Bulls in Chicago on Saturday, snapping a 3-game losing streak. The Hornets are just outside of the play-in game in the Eastern Conference standings, and while they have a lot of young talent, they lack the discipline to finish out games, primarily on the defensive end. Still, despite their ability to stack wins, they have played teams close lately, so the Thunder cannot count this as an easy win.
OKC enters this one as a heavy favorite, which could go one of two ways. The Thunder could jump out to an early lead, cruise to a comfortable win, and perhaps even get some rest for the starters in the fourth quarter. On the other hand, OKC could enter overconfident, allow Charlotte to stick around, and end up in a similar situation as last night: fighting for life down the stretch.
The Thunder has handled losses well, bouncing back with blowout wins in 4 of their previous 5 losses. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had a rough shooting night last night, so I would expect him to come back out tonight with a much more efficient stat line that is more consistent with his typical basketball performance. On the bright side, Chet Holmgren has played really well lately, affecting the game on both ends of the floor, and Jalen Williams continues to improve each game. If all three can put together a quality night, this game shouldn’t even be close.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
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, Charlotte Hornets Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Hornets
- PG: Lamelo Ball
- SG: Kon Kneuppel
- SF: Brandon Miller
- PF: Miles Bridges
- C: Moussa Diabate
Injury Report
Thunder
- Brooks Barnhizer (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Alex Caruso (lower back soreness) is OUT.
- Ousmane Dieng (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (strained left soleus) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jaylin Williams (right heel bursitis) is OUT.
Hornets
- Moussa Diabate (sprained right wrist) is PROBABLE.
- Ryan Kalkbrenner (sprained left elbow) is OUT.
- Kon Knueppel (right hip contusion) is PROBABLE.
- Brandon Miller (left knee contusion) is PROBABLE.
- Mason Plumlee (right groin surgery) is OUT.
- Tidjane Salaun (sprained left ankle) is PROBABLE.
- KJ Simpso (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Grant Williams (right knee surgery) is OUT.
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 22-10 against the Hornets (11-5 at home, 11-5 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the regular-season series against the Hornets 9 times, lost it 3 times, and tied it 5 times.
- The Thunder went 2-0 against the Hornets last season (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- OKC is 1-0 against Charlotte so far this season (0-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the last 5 meetings with the Hornets.