• Oklahoma City Thunder (7-4) @ Golden State Warriors (6-6)
• When: Thursday, 16 November 2023 at 9:00pm CST
• Where: Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
• Offensive Rating – GS: 112.5 (15th) / OKC: 113.9 (9th)
• Defensive Rating – GS: 110.5 (9th) / OKC: 109.2 (7th)
• Net Rating – GS: 2.1 (11th) / OKC: 4.7 (6th)

The Set-Up

Catching breaks. In an 82-game season, there are times where you just catch a break. Maybe you catch a team where you are their 5th game in 7 nights. Sometimes you catch a team that is resting their (“injured”) star(s). Sometimes you just catch a team on an off-night. But there’s a duality in catching a team in a bad state. The other part to the equation is you have to come out and take advantage of the situation. When the Thunder played the Sacramento Kings nearly a week ago, they faced a Kings team that had lost 3 of their last 4 previous games and was without their star guard in De’Aaron Fox. The Thunder came out and completely laid an egg and lost, not just a regular season game, but an In-Season Tournament game.

The Thunder come into this game facing a Warriors team that is missing Steph Curry and Draymond Green. With all that said, this is still a dangerous squad. Game 6 Klay is always lurking, Andrew Wiggins used to be one of the biggest thorns in the Thunder’s side back a couple of seasons ago, and Chris Paul can always conjure up magic from time to time. The Thunder need to take advantage of the circumstances that have presented themselves and win these next two games.

Injury Report

OKC

• None

GS

• Steph Curry (knee) – Out
• Draymond Green (suspension) – Out

Three Big Things

1. Rebounding – I know this has been an issue all season. But rebounding is one of those things that can equalize a game for a team that is missing some of their key rotational pieces. Allowing a team like the Warriors extra possessions is not a recipe for success. The Thunder have done a better job of gang rebounding, but still rank near the bottom in every rebounding statistical category.
2. SGA – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t play in the last Warriors game due to sprained knee. Even with his absence, the Thunder nearly won their last meeting against Golden State. Oklahoma City did a great job of attacking the lane and looking for the open shooter. It was almost Golden State’esque. With SGA in the line-up, the Thunder should be able to do even more damage on the interior, especially with the absence of Draymond Green.
3. Limit the Others – This feels like the type of trap game where someone like Moses Moody or Jonathan Kuminga could go off for their career highs. Or someone like Dario Saric could have a “Wow that’s what he looked like before all the injuries” kind of game. The Thunder cannot be lulled into a false sense of security with Curry and Green out for the game.