The 24-second preview aims to give you what to know before the matchup as quickly and cleanly as possible. Keep your eye on the clock!
- The Thunder are without Isaiah Hartenstein who broke his hand. Joker is going to EAT in this game. Chet Holmgren will block some shots but Nikola will get what he wants on the interior.
- One thing that makes the Thunder tough is that they will switc up defensive coverages unexpectedly. So there’s no telling if they’ll double Nikola Jokic or not.
- Jalen Williams looks to have leveled up and him vs. Michael Porter Jr. as scoring weapons could be the deciding factor.
- Jamal Murray was 10-of-25 (40%) vs. Lu Dort last season, and Denver only scored 109 points per 100 possessions while Murray was in the Dorture Chamber.
- OKC is 6-6 vs. Denver since 2020-21 and won the season series last year vs. Denver.
- Michael Malone is 6-3 in home openers in Denver, and has won six of his last seven first home games.
- Watch out for the bench in this game, especially this game. The OKC defense is ravenous with Alex Caruso now coming off the pine and the Denver second unit may struggle to start the 2nd.
- Aaron Gordon should have favorable matchups with Hartensein on the shelf.
- The Oklahoma City Thunder logo is a bison named Rumble. His backstory involves him being struck by lightning which gave him super powers. Super-Mascot Rocky needed no such electrical interference to become “super.”
We’ll have a late night bonus recap episode and Matt and Swipa will break down the game in detail on Friday at 12p.m. MT on Swipe and Gripe!
