OKC Thunder: 3 keys to beating the Detroit Pistons

Game specifics:

Records:

• Thunder: 20-29
• Pistons: 14-35

The Venue:  Chesapeake Energy Arena

Tipoff:  7:00 PM ET  | 6:00 PM CT

TV: Fox Sports  Oklahoma | NBA League Pass

Radio: WWLS 98.1 FM OKC

Odds:

Injuries:

More from Thunderous Intentions

• Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
• Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

OKC Thunder:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will miss his seventh consecutive game with plantar fasciitis
• Al Horford has been shut down for the season.
• Darius Bazley will miss his 14th consecutive game with a shoulder contusion.
• Mike Muscala is out with an ankle injury missing his 12th of the last 13 games.
• Luguentz Dort is out in the concussion protocol program, missing his fifth game in a row.
• Ty Jerome is day-to-day with an ankle injury.

Pistons:

• Rodney McGruder is day-to-day with an elbow injury.
• Jahlil Okafor is out with a knee injury and has no timetable for return.

History:

The squads have faced each other 139 times in regular-season history with the Thunder holding the advantage of winning 73 of those matches compared to 66 for the Pistons. In the 2019-20 campaign the teams played twice with OKC winning both contests.

This is the first meeting between the clubs this season as both squads are on a path to the lottery. Entering the day the Pistons are seeded 28th overall with their eyes set on grabbing one of those coveted bottom three spots. The Thunder have work to do if they want one of the bottom three slots currently residing in the 23rd position league-wide.