The Oklahoma City Thunder hosts the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday night in the second game of a back-to-back for both teams before heading into the All-Star Break this weekend. OKC just defeated the Suns in Phoenix last night 136-109, and the Bucks beat the Magic in Orlando 116-108.
Jalen Williams left the game early last night, heading back to the locker room with what appeared to be a re-aggrivated strained right hamstring. Regardless of the extent of his injury, I would expect him to sit tonight so that he can get a jump start on recovery in hopes of returning after the break. Prior to his exit, Williams was shoved into Chet Holmgren, who went to the bench grabbing his shoulder. Holmgren never left the bench, and due to the large lead, he never needed to return to the floor anyway, but his injury status has yet to be determined.
As for the Bucks, they have been playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo for some time now, but even when he was in the lineup, they were struggling to win games. At 22-30, Milwaukee is 2 games out of a play-in spot, and they are going to struggle to stay in contention as long as Giannis is out.
Both teams would love to pick up a win before the All-Star Break, but OKC is heavily favored, and they should take care of business in front of the home crowd. While both teams have to play missing key players, the Thunder has much more depth than the Bucks, so expect a fun night from OKC’s role players.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 6:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: NBA on Prime
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, Milwaukee Bucks Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Cason Wallace
- SG: Luguentz Dort
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Jaylin Williams
Bucks
- PG: Ryan Rollins
- SG: Kevin Porter
- SF: A.J. Green
- PF: Kyle Kuzma
- C: Myles Turner
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (lower back spasms) is OUT.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (strained abdominal) is OUT.
- Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus injury management) is OUT.
- Ajay Mitchell (strained abdominal) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hamstring) is QUESTIONABLE.
Bucks
- Alex Antetokounmpo (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (strained right calf) is OUT.
- Kyle Kuzma (left foot soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Taurean Prince (neck surgery) is OUT.
- Ryan Rollins (plantar fasciitis in right foot) is QUESTIONABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 18-16 against the Bucks in the regular season (9-7 at home, 9-9 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series with the Bucks 5 times, lost it 4 times, and tied it 7 times.
- The Thunder went 2-0 against the Bucks last year (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road). Milwaukee did beat OKC in the NBA Cup Final, but that does not count towards official records.
- OKC is 1-0 against Milwaukee so far this season (-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).