The league’s hottest team takes on the league’s coldest team on Saturday as the Oklahoma City Thunder—riding a 10-game win streak—takes on the Wizards—sliding through a 14-game losing streak— in Washington, D.C. This is the third game of a 5-game East Coast road trip for the Thunder, and it should be another solid win for OKC as these two teams are in very different places. The Thunder recently clinched not only a playoff spot but the Northwest Division. Meanwhile, the Wizards have been eliminated from playoff contention, their injury report is as long as it gets, and they appear to have little interest in winning.
Not only have the Wizards been losing lately, but they have seen a single-digit result differential just four times in their current losing streak. OKC isn’t always winning in the prettiest fashion, but they’re approaching full health, and this is a game where everybody suited up should see floor time.
With just 11 games and 22 days left in the regular season, OKC sits 3 games ahead of San Antonio for the top spot in the Western Conference. A win today would put the Thunder 4 games ahead in the win column. OKC needs every win it can get to finish out the season, as the Thunder has one of the toughest final stretches of any team in the league.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 4 PM CT
Location: Capital One Arena
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, Washington WIzards Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Ajay Mitchell
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Wizards
- PG: Bub Carrington
- SG: Tre Johnson
- SF: Bilal Coulibaly
- PF: Will Riley
- C: Alex Sarr
Injury Report
Thunder
- Branden Carlson (strained lower back) is OUT.
- Payton Sandfort (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (G League — on assignment) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (strained right hamstring) is OUT.
Wizards
- Leaky Black (sprained left ankle) is OUT.
- Anthony Davis (sprained left finger) is OUT.
- Kyshawn George (sprained left elbow) is OUT.
- Tre Johnson (right foot soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Will Riley (right adductor soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- D’Angelo Russell (not with team) is OUT.
- Cam Whitmore (right shoulder deep vein thrombosis) is OUT.
- Trae Young (lower back pain; right quad contusion) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 20-12 against the Wizards (12-4 at home, 8-8 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the season series with the Wizards 7 times, lost it 3 times, and tied 7 times.
- The Thunder won the season series 2-0 against the Wizards last season (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- OKC has won 6 straight against Washington, including 3 in a row at the Paycom Center.