OKC Thunder face red hot Suns – 3 keys to match

Game specifics:

Records:

• Thunder: 21-43
• Suns: 45-18

The Venue: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Tipoff:  8:00 PM ET  | 7:00 PM CT

TV: Fox Sports  Oklahoma | NBA League Pass

Radio: WWLS 98.1 FM OKC

Injuries:

As per the NBA injury report …

OKC Thunder:

• Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will miss his 21st consecutive game as he recovers from plantar fasciitis.
• Luguentz Dort is out again with a strained hip.
• Mike Muscala will miss his 25th consecutive game with an ankle injury. Notably, while the Raptors were fined for inaccurate injury reporting it’s odd the Thunder have been allowed to repeatedly state Muscala is out with an ankle injury but hasn’t to our knowledge undergone any surgical procedure. Even LeBron James returned after 20 games, so let’s call this what it is – he’s been shut down just like Horford.
• Al Horford has been shut down for the season as a healthy scratch.
• Aleksej Pokusevski is out dealing with knee soreness

Suns:

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

Cameron Payne is dealing with a sore knee and listed as questionable

Cameron Johnson has a sore wrist but listed as probable to play Sunday

Abdel Nader had an arthroscopic procedure on his knee that will result in him missing his 22nd consecutive game.

Jae Crowder will miss his sixth game in a row with an ankle injury.

History:

Over the course of history, these teams have played 244 times in the regular season. Phoenix owns the advantage having won 129 times while the OKC Thunder has won 115 games.

In the 2019-20 season, it was the Thunder who took the series winning two of the three matches. This season each side has a victory with OKC victorious in the initial meeting on January 27th, 102-97, and Phoenix routing the Thunder on April 2nd, 140-103.