Tag Archives: Lauri Markkanen

Utah Jazz vs. Thunder preview (Game 38 of 82)

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  • Utah Jazz (12-23, 13th in the West) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (30-7, 1st in the West)
  • When: Wednesday, 07 January 2026 at 7:00pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: UTA: 114.8 (14th) / OKC: 118.3 (5th)
  • Defensive Rating: UTA: 122.0 (30th) / OKC: 105.0 (1st)
  • Net Rating: UTA: -7.1 (26th) / OKC: 13.3 (1st)
  • Current Streak: UTA: Lost 4 straight, 2-8 in their last 10 / OKC: Lost 2 straight, 6-6 in their last 12

The Set-Up

Sam Presti, 20 April 2023. We’re going to be okay, guys.

This is the third of four meetings this season between these Northwest Division rivals. The Thunder have won the first two meetings this season by an average of 31 points.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -18
  • O/U: 240.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Alex Caruso – OUT (back)
  • Ousmane Dieng – OUT (calf)
  • Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Questionable (knee)
  • Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (calf)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (cancer treatment)
  • Jaylin Williams – OUT (heel)

UTA

  • Ace Bailey – Questionable (hip)
  • Walker Kessler – OFS (shoulder)
  • Kevin Love – OUT (rest)
  • Georges Niang – OUT (foot)

Three Big Things

  1. Offensive Mojo – If there is a team to get your offensive mojo back, it’s definitely against the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are the worst defensive team in the league by a good margin. They are 25th in steals and 30th in blocks. To further help the Thunder’s cause, the Jazz rank 28th in Opponent Points off Turnovers. If the Thunder are going to get their get-back offensively, this is just the team to do it against. And this goes for whether Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plays in this game or not. The one game SGA missed this season was against Utah, and Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren took care of business in a 30-point victory.
  2. Dynamic Duo – While the Jazz may be bad defensively, they’ve definitely surprised some teams with what they do on the offensive end. Lauri Markkanen (nearly 28 points and 7 rebounds per game) and Keyonte George (24 points and nearly 7 assists per game) have quietly formed a formidable duo in Utah…albeit on the offensive end. Utah’s next evolution may be in finding defensive-minded players that fit around their two offensive stars. With OKC’s propensity for letting offensive-minded players get hot early and stay hot in games lately, it would behoove the Thunder to get back to their brand of defense and make it a difficult night for these two players.
  3. Ajay Mitchell – In their last game against the Jazz, Mitchell only scored 7 points and dished out 4 assists, but was a team-high +32. His ability to break down the defense and get into the paint at will is such a weapon. If the Thunder can get their 3-point shooting groove back, it would make Mitchell that much more effective as a floor general/play-maker.

Thunder @ Utah Jazz preview (Game 17 of 82, NBA Cup Game #2)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (15-1, 1st in the West) @ Utah Jazz (5-9, 10th in the West)
  • When: Friday, 21 November 2025 at 9:00pm CST
  • Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
  • TV: FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: UTA: 113.9 (21st) / OKC: 118.1 (5th)
  • Defensive Rating: UTA: 119.1 (25th) / OKC: 102.7 (1st)
  • Net Rating: UTA: -5.2 (23rd) / OKC: 15.3 (1st)

The Set-Up

Cup Night! It’s weird, but this little experiment seems to be working. Players seem to be getting up for these games and the optics of the court and the jerseys make it something to look forward to. In addition, teams know that point differential matters, so they are staying on the gas for the full 48 minutes. Teams know they only get one game against each of the teams in their group, so the competitiveness of the games is ratcheted up. Anything can happen in a one-game series. And that’s the beauty of the Cup.

This is the first of four meetings this season between these Northwest Division rivals. OKC swept the season series last year, winning the four games by an average of 23.3 points.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -16.5
  • O/U: 234.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (cancer treatment)
  • Aaron Wiggins – OUT (adductor strain
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (wrist)
  • Kenrich Williams – OUT (knee)

UTA

  • Kyle Filipowski – Questionable (wrist)
  • Georges Niang – OUT (foot)
  • Walker Kessler – OFS (shoulder)

Three Big Things

  1. Home-Cooking – The Utah Jazz are the OKC Thunder of home teams. In their seven home games (four of which have been wins), the Jazz rank 1st in points per game (134.0 ppg), 1st in free throws attempted (32.3 per game), 1st in free throws made (27 per game), 1st in rebounds per game (50.4 per game), 1st in assists per game (33 per game), 2nd in offensive rating, 3rd in 3-point FGs made, and 6th in True Shooting %. Lauri Markkanen is averaging 9 more points per game at home than on the road and shooting nearly 18% higher on threes in the friendly confines of the Delta Center. This team is just different when they play at home.
  2. Controlling the glass – Utah is one of the top rebounding teams in the league. Even with Walker Kessler being out the last nine games (and out of the season), Utah has still ranked 5th in offensive rebounds per game, 4th in total rebounds per game, and 7th in rebound percentage. This, in turn, fuels the 2nd chance opportunities to the tune of 18.1 points per game. There aren’t many things that fuel young teams at home than 2nd chance opportunities.
  3. Turn them over – While strong on the glass, the Jazz suffer from the ailment that pains many young teams: their inability to limit turnovers. Utah nearly dead last in turnovers and does a bad job of limiting points off of turnovers. OKC, on the other hand, leads the league in causing turnovers and in points off of turnovers.

Thunder @ Utah Jazz preview (Game 51 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (35-15, 1st in the West) @ Utah Jazz (25-26, 10th in the West)
  • When: Tuesday, 06 February 2024 at 8:00pm CST
  • Where: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, UT
  • Offensive Rating – UTA: 115.6 (16th) / OKC: 119.3 (5th)
  • Defensive Rating – UTA: 117.9 (25th) / OKC: 111.2 (4th)
  • Net Rating – UTA: -2.3 (23rd) / OKC: 8.1 (2nd)

The Set-Up

The top-4 teams in the Western Conference are separated by half a game. HALF A GAME! A rough night at the office and a team could tumble from 1st to 4th pretty quickly. The Thunder have gone from hardly playing any games of consequence over the last three seasons to playing a game of consequence almost nightly. The Thunder and Timberwolves have seemingly been tit for tat for the better part of the new year. The Clippers are the hottest team in the league right now and the Nuggets likely haven’t even started playing their best brand of basketball yet.

With all that said, I’ve been very impressed by Oklahoma City’s poise and maturity throughout the season. The start the season as the “hunters” and still have the same hunger and focus once they became the “hunted”, takes a perspective way beyond the age of most of the players of the roster. Once they win the games, though, you see this team’s age in their post-game interviews. Here’s to continuing to win while young.

This is the third meeting of the season between these two division rivals. The Thunder have won the previous two, 134-120 in December and 134-129 in January. Their fourth and final meeting of the season is on March 20th.

Betting Info

  • Line: OKC -3.5
  • O/U: 240.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Davis Bertans (knee) – Questionable
  • Ousmane Dieng (hip) – Questionable
  • Isaiah Joe (chest) – OUT
  • Vasilije Micic (ankle) – Questionable
  • Cason Wallace (shoulder) – Questionable
  • Lindy Waters III (ankle) – Questionable
  • Jalen Williams (ankle) – Questionable
  • Jaylin Williams (Achilles) – Questionable

UTA

  • Ochai Agbaji (illness) – Questionable

Three Big Things

  1. Trade Deadline Shenanigans – The game before the trade deadline and the game after the trade deadline always have the possibilities of being weird, roster-wise. The Thunder haven’t had an injury report that looked like that all season long. And now, the game before the trade deadline, half the roster is on the injury report. It may mean something. It may mean nothing. But it’s always shenanigans.
  2. Turn them over – The Utah Jazz are the most turnover-prone team in the league. They don’t have any real “floor-general” type players. All their point guards are undersized combo guards that aren’t great at playmaking. This plays immensely into what the Thunder do best defensively and what they like to do offensively (transition).
  3. Rebounding – Conversely, where the Jazz are great, the Thunder struggle. If the Thunder can’t turn the Jazz over and this turns into a half-court affair, the Thunder will need all-hands on deck in the rebounding department. Between Walker Kessler, John Collins, and Lauri Markkanen, the Jazz boast three guys that average 7.4 rebounds or more per game. The Thunder have only one in Chet Holmgren (7.5 rebounds per game).

Utah Jazz vs. Thunder preview (Game 22 of 82)

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  • Utah Jazz (7-15, 12th in the West) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (14-7, 2nd in the West)
  • When: Monday, 11 December 2023 at 7:00pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK
  • Offensive Rating – UTA: 109.4 (26th) / OKC: 117.3 (8th)
  • Defensive Rating – UTA: 118.0 (25th) / OKC: 110.1 (6th)
  • Net Rating – UTA: -8.6 (27th) / OKC: 7.2 (3rd)

The Set-Up

That signature win at home. That win that made the Paycom feel like it was the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Where the thunderous drum guided the chants of defense and the crowd chanted “O…K…C!” when the team was on offense. We finally got that with the game against the Warriors. That feeling like we’re finally back. Walking back to my car that evening, the crowd was still in a fervor, chanting “OKC” as we crossed the underpass on Reno. It felt like the good ol’ days. Hopefully more of those days are forthcoming, because it was a great feeling.

As we head to a vote on Tuesday, December 12th, to determine if the city will continue the $0.01 cent tax in order to pay for a new, state of the art arena, remember that feeling. Remember what it feels like to have Oklahomans cheering for the same team, not divided by crimson and orange. Remember what it’s like to have Oklahomans coming together to enjoy something like the Thunder, instead of coming together in tragedy. This is what the MAPS program has created. And this is what can continue if the vote is YES on Tuesday, December 12th. Go vote! and vote YES!

This is the first of four meetings this season between these Northwest Division rivals.

Betting Info

  • Line: OKC -12.5
  • O/U: 234.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Lu Dort (ankle) – OUT

UTA

  • John Collins (illness) – Questionable
  • Walker Kessler (foot) – OUT
  • Lauri Markkanen (hamstring) – OUT

Three Big Things

  1. Rebounding – Utah is one of the best rebounding teams in the league, especially on the offensive end. While I know that two of their bigs are out, rebounding is still that much of an issue for OKC that I feel it needs to be addressed. Utah is down two of their best players in Kessler and Markkanen. They don’t need any motivation/incentive to remain in striking distance in this game. Offensive rebounding could give them that.
  2. Turning them over – The Jazz are the fumbliest team in the league, leading the NBA in total turnovers and turnover percentage. Consequently, the Thunder are one of the best defenses and can turn defense to offense on a dime. It’s not that difficult. If both teams play their games, the Thunder will be more advantageous.
  3. Trap game potential – Great win at home the previous game. Some players a little banged up (SGA, Dort). Utah kinda sucks. This has trap-game written all over it.