The Oklahoma City Thunder will be out to maintain their perfect start to the 2024-25 NBA season when they play host to the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday morning.
After beating the Hawks on Monday, OKC moved to 3-0 for the season, while the Spurs lost on Sunday at home against the Housten Rockets to go 1-2.
Match preview
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During the preseason, there was plenty of talk coming out of the Oklahoma City Thunder camp that they would be taking more triples this season, and so far, they have lived up to their promise.
OKC have climbed from 16th in the league a year ago in three-point attempts (32.4) to 11th (38.7) through the first three games of this season, and against the Hawks last time out, they drained an impressive 40% from beyond the arc.
The Thunder are 3-0 for the first time since 2017 and they have now topped all their opponents by at least 15 points, with the biggest margin of victory coming against Trae Young and co 128-104.
However, it is not just on offence that Mark Daigneault's side are excelling, as they remain one of the best defensive outfits in the league too, with Chet Holmgren currently tied for second place in total rebounds and rebounds per game while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in steals.
Bottom line - if OKC can maintain their current level of intensity and remain healthy through the season, there is no reason why they cannot be the best team in the West or even across the entire association.
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Meanwhile, despite bringing in the likes of Chris Paul and Harrison Barnes to support Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, the San Antonio Spurs have not had the start to the campaign they would have hoped for.
Against the Rockets last time out, the Spurs battled back from 21 points down, but a crucial error in the final defensive possession saw them leave Fred VanVleet wide-open from downtown, and the veteran made no mistake with converting to split the two-game series.
While Wemby did not have the best night on offence, managing just 14 points, he was a colossus on the boards, grabbing 20 rebounds and making four blocks, while picking up five assists for good measure.
The Frenchman will now resume his rivalry against Holmgren, who he beat to the Rookie of the Year award and outdid in points, rebounds, assists and blocks last season. However, Holmgren had the last laugh, emerging victorious in two of the three games between the teams last term.
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Team News
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OKC are expected to be without at least four players for this match, including Nikola Topic, who underwent surgery on his ACL and has been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season.
Kenrich Williams is also on the road to recovery from a knee injury and will play no part in this match, while Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein are flagged as major doubts owing to a hamstring and hand injury respectively.
For the Spurs, shooting guard Devin Vassell is the only confirmed absentee for this match due to an injured foot, though he is expected to return to the hardwood within the next two weeks.
Tre Jones featured for 16 minutes in San Antonio's season opener against the Mavericks but missed the last two games with a sprained ankle, and he will be a game time decision in this one.
Oklahoma City Thunder possible starting five:
Williams, Dort, Holmgren, Gilgeous-Alexander, Wiggins
San Antonio Spurs possible starting five:
Sochan, Barnes, Wembanyama, Paul, Champagnie
We say: Oklahoma City Thunder to win by 7+ points
While the Spurs have shown signs of improvement this season, they are still a long way from being able to challenge some of the top teams in the league, and OKC is certainly one of those teams.
The young Thunder side are already starting to look like the team to beat in the West this season, and we feel they will make fairly light work of their opponents in this match.
Devesh Jaganath
