- Charlotte Hornets (12-23, 12th in the East) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (30-6, 1st in the West)
- When: Monday, 05 January 2026 at 7:00pm CST
- Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
- TV: FDSN-OK
- Offensive Rating: CHA: 115.3 (12th) / OKC: 118.8 (5th)
- Defensive Rating: CHA: 117.8 (26th) / OKC: 104.4 (1st)
- Net Rating: CHA: -2.5 (21st) / OKC: 14.4 (1st)
- Current Streaks: CHA: 3-3 in their last 6 / OKC: 4-1 in their last 5
The Set-Up
The Oklahoma City Thunder have reached the point where the regular season doesn’t mean as much to them as it does to other teams. If anything, the regular season can actually be a deterrent to postseason success with the possibility of injuries and fatigue. Over the course of the last four weeks, the Thunder have played in four back to backs and have been involved in three “3 games in 4 nights” over that same timespan. Injuries to key rotation pieces have depleted their depth and OKC has actually looked a little uninspired during this timespan. This is a tired bunch, and the schedule doesn’t ease up until after February 4th, when they have multiple days off between games. It’ll be a grind until April, but this is a resilient bunch. They will do what they need to do to secure the top seed heading into the playoffs.
This is the 2nd and final meeting of the season between the Thunder and Hornets. OKC won the first meeting in Charlotte, 109-96, in a game that was a lot closer than the final score would suggest. Oklahoma City only led by 3 at halftime and needed one of their vintage defensive 3rd quarters to give them the separation they needed to coast in the 4th quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 33 points and 7 assists and Chet Holmgren chipped in with 25 points and 8 rebounds.
Betting Info, presented by FanDuel
- Line: OKC -15.5
- O/U: 234.5
Injury Report
OKC
- Brooks Barnhizer – Day to Day (ankle)
- Alex Caruso – OUT (back)
- Ousmane Dieng – OUT (calf)
- Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (calf)
- Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
- Nikola Topic – OUT (cancer treatment)
- Jaylin Williams – OUT (heel)
CHA
- Moussa Diabate – Probable (wrist)
- Kon Knueppel – Probable (hip)
- Ryan Kalkbrenner – OUT (elbow)
- Brandon Miller – Probable (knee)
- Mason Plumlee – OUT (groin)
- Tidjane Salaun – Questionable (ankle)
- Grant Williams – OUT (knee)
Three Big Things
- 3-point shooting – This goes for both defending the 3-point line and making 3-pointers. In their last 11 games, the Thunder have shot 29.6% from 3 in their losses and 37.2% from 3 in their wins. That’s an almost 8% difference. Bring that 29.6% up to about 35%, and some of those losses flip to wins. It’s definitely a make or miss league, even for the defending champs. On the other end of that spectrum, the Thunder have been on the bad side of some hot shooting nights by their opponents. And Charlotte is definitely a team that has candidates that can heat up from beyond the arc. Guys like LaMelo Ball, Kon Knueppel, Brandon Miller, and Miles Bridges all average over 2.4 threes made per game and have that “get hot” ability.
- Kon Knueppel – The likely Rookie of the Year gets his second crack at the Thunder. He’s had only four single-digit scoring nights as a pro, and OKC caused one of them, forcing Knueppel to shoot 3/10 from the field to go along with 5 turnovers. Everyone one of the those four single-digit scoring games were losses, so it would behoove the Thunder to make Kon’s night a nightmare.
- Jalen Williams – Last night against the Suns was one of the better games Dub has put together, from start to finish, since coming back . He scored 23 on 9/13 shooting from the field, had four rebounds, seven assists, and hit a game-tying driving middy with 8 seconds left in the game. For the first time this season, it felt like Fourth Quarter Dub had entered the building.