The #1 team in the West takes on the #1 team in the East on Monday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder hosts the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, the Pistons are significantly shorthanded as Cade Cunningham recovers from a collapsed left lung, and Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris, and Duncan Robinson are all out due to injury management. OKC will be without Isaiah Hartenstein and Jalen Williams due to injury management as well, but the Thunder is otherwise healthy.
With just 7 games remaining, the race for homecourt advantage in the West continues as the Thunder remains 2 games ahead of the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs host the Chicago Bulls tonight, and San Antonio should win easily. That puts all the more pressure on OKC to keep winning to maintain the slim lead over San Antonio in the standings.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is still the favorite to win MVP, but he has struggled in the last couple of games to shoot the ball as efficiently as he has for most of the season. Don’t be surprised if he bounces back tonight with a solid all-around game, and as long as the Thunder defense locks in early, OKC should be able to win a third straight game at home.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: Peacock
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, Detroit Pistons Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Cason Wallace
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Jaylin Williams
Pistons
- PG: Daniss Jenkins
- SG: Kevin Huerter
- SF: Ausar Thompson
- PF: Ronald Holland
- C: Paul Reed
Injury Report
Thunder
- Isaiah Hartenstein (right soleus injury management) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (right hamstring injury management) is OUT.
Pistons
- Cade Cunningham (pneumothorax in left lung) is OUT.
- Jalen Duren (right knee injury management) is OUT.
- Tobias Harris (left hip injury management) is OUT.
- Isaac Jones (G League — two-way) is AVAILABLE.
- Bobi Klintman (G League — on assignment) is AVAILABLE.
- Wendell Moore Jr. (G League — two-way) is AVAILABLE.
- Duncan Robinson (right hip injury management) is OUT.
- Ausar Thompson (right ankle injury management) is AVAILABLE.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 22-11 against the Pistons (12-3 at home, 10-8 on the road).
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder has won the season series against the Pistons 7 times, lost it 1 time, and tied it 8 times.
- The Thunder went 2-0 against the Pistons last season (1-0 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- OKC is 0-1 against Detroit so far this season (0-0 at home, 0-1 on the road).