Tag Archives: Peyton Watson

Thunder @ Phoenix Suns preview (Game 3 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals)

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  • #1 Oklahoma City Thunder (2-0) @ #8 Phoenix Suns (0-2)
  • When: Saturday, 25 April 2026 at 2:30pm CST
  • Where: Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZ
  • TV: NBC/Peacock
  • Series Record: OKC leads 2-0

The Tip-Off

The grabbing of the back of the leg and then the ginger walking. Two of the worst things you want to see from one of your best players when your team is in the postseason. The Lakers dealt with that a week before the playoffs started with Luka Doncic. Denver has been dealing with seemingly for the past year with Aaron Gordon’s hamstring and now Peyton Watson’s hamstring. And, of course, the Thunder this season with Jalen Williams. The major difference is that Oklahoma City has done a good job of weathering the storm in Dub’s absences. Discounting the last two games of the season, in which most of the top rotational players for OKC sat, the Thunder were 39-8 in games that Williams missed due to injury. That’s an 83% win percentage. I’m in no way saying that the Thunder can win a championship without Dub. But they are pretty well equipped to manage the loss until he can return and they have the experience from this past season to lean on.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -8.5
  • O/U: 212.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Isaiah Joe – OUT (personal)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring)

PHX

  • Grayson Allen – Questionable (hamstring)
  • Jordan Goodwin – Questionable (calf)
  • Mark Williams – OUT (foot)

Three Big Things

  1. Adapt To The Officiating – Referees are humans. We’ve seen how they’ve changed how they ref SGA due to pressure from the narrative-driven outside world. Now, that usually normalizes itself, but peer pressure, even from people you don’t know, is truly a thing. With OKC’s depth taking a bit of a hit with Dub and Isaiah Joe being out, it would behoove OKC to play smart on defense and avoid getting into any foul trouble.
  2. Control The Perimeter – For the playoffs, the Suns rank dead last in points in the paint. Part of that is that OKC is playing defense against them. But the majority of the reason for that is that Phoenix is just not a driving team. They don’t have a great play-maker, don’t have a great inside presence, and they generate most of their offense from the perimeter. Phoenix started hitting more shots in Game 2 and OKC needs to do their part to make sure Phoenix doesn’t stay comfortable shooting from outside.
  3. Ajay Mitchell – With the loss of Jalen Williams, so much more of the offensive load will rest on Mitchell’s shoulders. Whether he starts or not, I can definitely see more time for Mitchell with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, especially if we see early on, that Phoenix is doubling or blitzing SGA every time he touches the ball.

Denver Nuggets vs. Thunder preview (Game 61 of 82)

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  • Denver Nuggets (37-22, 4th in the West) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (45-15, 1st in the West)
  • When: Friday, 27 February 2026 at 8:30pm CST
  • Where: Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: ESPN / FDSN-OK
  • Offensive Rating: DEN: 120.7 (1st) / OKC: 117.6 (6th)
  • Defensive Rating: DEN: 115.8 (20th) / OKC: 106.4 (1st)
  • Net Rating: DEN: 4.9 (7th) / OKC: 11.2 (1st)
  • Current Streaks: DEN: Alternating W’s and L’s for the last 8 games / OKC: Lost their last game, 5-2 in their last 7 games

The Tip-Off

Next man up. As the Thunder start to get healthier and healthier, the experience garnered from different players being thrust into roles that aren’t familiar to them could serve to be a positive as the Thunder navigate through the last 20 games of the season. The shot-making from Isaiah Joe and Jared McCain, the play-making and scoring from Cason Wallace, the offensive-hubbing from Jaylin Williams, the scoring from Kenrich Williams, etc. All those skills, while mostly not needed when the team is healthy, can serve as difference makers when defenses game-plan entirely against a team’s offense. We saw last season that the shooting can dry up quickly in the playoffs. If the players on the floor present more dynamic games, it allows the team to score in a variety of ways instead of relying entirely on their bread and butter (SGA and Dub).

This is the second of four meeting this season between these Northwest Division rivals. OKC won the first meeting, 121-111, in a game that saw the Thunder lead wire to wire and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander solidify his stamp on the MVP race with a 34 point, 13 assist performance.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -8.5
  • O/U: 232.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Branden Carlson – OUT (back)
  • Ajay Mitchell – OUT (abdominal strain)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee/ACL)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (hamstring)

DEN

  • Tamar Bates – OUT (foot)
  • Aaron Gordon – OUT (hamstring)
  • Spencer Jones – Questionable (shoulder)
  • Jamal Murray – Questionable (illness)
  • Jalen Pickett – OUT (knee)
  • Julian Strawther – Questionable (toe)
  • Peyton Watson – OUT (hamstring)

Three Big Things

  1. The Thunder offense – While Denver may have the best offense in the league, it’s the Thunder’s offense that may show out in this game. Denver’s struggles on the defensive end have been well-documented this season. Nikola Jokic, while great on the offensive end of the floor, has never been mistaken for being a defensive stalwart on the other end. The Thunder’s ability to put Jokic into action with SGA gives the advantage to OKC. Denver will try to deploy a zone, but don’t currently have the horses (yes, pun intended) to run an effective one, with Aaron Gordon and Peyton Watson being out. In addition, Denver doesn’t add too much defensive pressure on the ball, seeing as they are 29th in steals per game, 27th in blocks per game, and last in points off turnovers.
  2. Return of SGA – After carrying the Thunder on his back for most of the season, SGA (and the Thunder) were able to steal 3 weeks worth of rest for the reigning MVP. That could be huge for OKC as they head into their final playoff push. The Thunder went 5-4 in the 9 games Gilgeous-Alexander missed. Abdominal strains have a way of being tricky (see also hamstring strains), so here’s hoping he’s fully healed.
  3. Perimeter Defense – Outside of Jokic, the reason Denver’s offense is so great is their jump-shooting ability. The Nuggets rank 2nd in FG%, 1st in 3pt FG%, 6th in FT%, 1st in Effective FG%, and 1st in True Shooting %. With the gravity that Jokic, and Jamal Murray to a lesser degree, have, it opens up jump shooting opportunities for many of their role players. One of the more effective ways to defend against this is to limit the times you double-team Jokic. And the Thunder have the bodies to defend Joker one on one.

Thunder @ LA Clippers preview (Game 8 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (7-0) @ Los Angeles Clippers (3-3)
  • When: Tuesday, 04 November 2025 at 10:00pm CST
  • Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA
  • TV: NBC/Peacock
  • Offensive Rating: LAC: 115.4 (14th) / OKC: 117.3 (8th)
  • Defensive Rating: LAC: 116.0 (20th) / OKC: 104.2 (1st)
  • Net Rating: LAC: -0.7 (19th) / OKC: 13.1 (1st)

The Set-Up

The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking for their best start in franchise history. Previous to this, they started last season 7-0 before they met the Nuggets in Denver and Russell Westbrook posted one of his best games of the season (29 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists). A Peyton Watson block on a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lay-up attempt as time expired allowed the Nuggets to walk away victorious, 124-122. It was definitely a sign of things to come later in the playoffs that season. Last year’s team rode that wave all the way to a franchise record 68 wins and, of course, the team’s first championship in Oklahoma City.

Before that, in the time of, as my 16-year old daughter would put it, “old basketball”, the 2012-13 team started the season 21-4 and the 2013-14 team started 22-4. Those team were led by Kevin Durant, Serge Ibaka, and the aforementioned Westbrook.

This is the first of three meetings this season between the Thunder and Clippers. Last season, the Thunder swept the season series 4-0, winning by an average of almost 10 points. In total, the Thunder have beat the Clippers five times in a row.

Betting Info, presented by FanDuel

  • Line: OKC -7.5
  • O/U: 221.5

Injury Report

OKC

  • Lu Dort – Questionable (illness)
  • Ajay Mitchell – Questionable (bilateral gluteal contusion)
  • Thomas Sorber – OFS (knee – ACL)
  • Nikola Topic – OUT (cancer treatment)
  • Jalen Williams – OUT (wrist)
  • Jaylin Williams – Questionable (shoulder sprain)
  • Kenrich Williams – OUT (knee)

LAC

  • Bradley Beal – Questionable (Load Management)
  • Kawhi Leonard – Questionable (Load Management)
  • Jordan Miller – OUT (hamstring)
  • Kobe Sanders – OUT (knee)

Three Big Things

  1. Pace – The Clippers are old. They look old (most of team has gray in their hair or beards). And they play old. The Clippers are the 2nd slowest team in terms of pace. The Thunder aren’t too far behind, ranking in at 26th, but we all know that has more to do with the personnel on the floor and the injuries, than how the team actually wants to play. Once this team has some semblance of health, the transition offense will likely uptick, which will bring up the pace. If the Thunder can look like the team that played against the Pelicans on Sunday, they should be able to use their youth and speed to their advantage.
  2. Force turnovers – The Thunder are elite where the Clippers struggle. The Clippers are 29th in the league in turnovers at 17.8 a game and worst in turnover ratio. The Thunder, on the other hand, are third in the league at forcing turnovers, at 17.4 per game. When they do turn the other team over, they score 23.9 points per game, which is good for 2nd in the league. On the other end of that spectrum, the Clippers do a poor job of getting back on defense once they have turned it over. They are 2nd worst in the NBA in Opponent Points off Turnovers, allowing 23.5 points per game.
  3. SGA –

Thunder @ Denver Nuggets preview (Game 1 of 82)

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  • Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0) @ Denver Nuggets (0-0)
  • When: Thursday, 24 October 2024 at 8:00pm CST
  • Where: Ball Arena, Denver, CO
  • TV: TNT

The Set-Up

There hasn’t been a more anticipated season for the Thunder than this upcoming season. You can maybe argue the 2012-13 season where the Thunder were coming off a Finals appearance. Or maybe the 2015-16 season where the team was stacked with talent, but also a ticking timebomb. But for some reason, this season feels different. Maybe it’s the wide-open nature of the league, where a new champ has been crowned the last 6 seasons. Maybe it’s the fact that this feels like the most cohesive and deepest team in Thunder history. Maybe it’s the fact that youth is still on our side and we still have one of the most, if not the most, coveted asset chest in the league. Whatever it is, the vibes are still immaculate, the calendar is starting on a new season, and hope is springing eternal. It’s the first step in the journey. Game 1. Thunder Up!

This is the first of 4 meetings this season between these two division, conference, and possibly, championship-contending rivals. The Thunder won the season series last year 3-1, winning the last three games of the series after getting trounced in their home-opener.

Betting Info

  • Line: DEN -1.5
  • O/U: 227.5

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