Oklahoma City will be looking to bounce back from a season-opening loss when it travels to Denver on Saturday night. The Thunder came up short in a 115-108 final at Minnesota on Wednesday, shooting just 38.4% from the floor. Denver opened the season with a 123-102 loss at Utah—this story was published prior to the Nuggets’ game at Golden State on Friday night.
Oklahoma City is embarking on year three of its rebuilding process after finishing 24-58 under head coach Mark Daigneault last year. The Thunder drafted Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 pick in June’s draft, hoping he would bring the team back to relevancy immediately. However, he suffered a right foot injury in August during a pro-am game and is going to miss the entire season. The Thunder did land two other lottery picks in Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng, along with adding Jaylin Williams at No. 34. They still have point guard Shae Gilgeous-Alexander and 2021 No. 6 pick Josh Giddey, but they won’t look entirely different this year like the fan base had hoped.
Oklahoma City Thunder Injury Update
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Defensive stopper Lu Dort signed a new contract in July as well, giving Oklahoma City a strong youthful core. Gilgeous-Alexander poured in 32 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists in the 115-108 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday. Giddey added 14 points and 11 rebounds, while power forward Aleksej Pokusevski had 11 points and seven boards. The Thunder launched 3-pointers at a high rate, knocking down just 14 of 45 attempts. Their defense held up fine against Minnesota, holding the Timberwolves to 41.5% shooting from the floor. Oklahoma City finished the 2021-22 season ranked dead last in the NBA in scoring and No. 15 in team defense.
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