The Oklahoma City Thunder is facing a big opportunity to bounce back after a loss at home against the New Orleans Pelicans. They host the Golden State Warriors on the first night of in-season tournament play.
These teams play three times this season, with each of the three matchups coming in November. Only this time, the matchup is coming during the inaugural night of the in-season tournament.
The Thunder has played its last three games at home and they've gone 1-2 in that stretch. They're 3-2 on the season and could benefit from a big win to avoid going .500 at this point in the season.
Injury Report:
Thunder:
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OUT (knee)
Keyontae Johnson, OUT (G League)
Kenrich Williams, OUT (back spasms)
Jaylin Williams, AVAILABLE (hamstring)
Warriors:
No injuries to report.
Obviously, the Thunder is facing a fully healthy team, and they're doing so without their best player and All-NBA guard in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. For the Thunder, this is an opportunity to fully lean into their play style of playing connected and together.
This provides a good challenge for the Thunder, who is seeing Jaylin Williams return to the court. Allowing offensive rebounds has been an issue for the Thunder, and Williams likely coming off the bench should help with that, especially in facing Kevon Looney, who thrives in such a thing.
With the Warriors playing the style that they do on the perimeter, it'll be good for the Thunder to have a player like Chet Holmgren to be able to cover a lot of ground defensively.
Updated Odds:
The Warriors are 6.5-point favorites over the Thunder. Obviously, playing without their star player and taking on a team that's fully healthy and the more talented team would lead to this result.
The Warriors consistently find success in Oklahoma City, so expect huge nights from Curry and Thompson, among others, as the Warriors use their high-powered offense to try and cover this spread against the Thunder.
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