A pair of Western Conference teams riding three-game winning streaks will square off on Wednesday night when Oklahoma City travels to Phoenix. The Thunder lost five straight games after returning from the All-Star break, but they responded with a three-game winning streak. Phoenix wrapped up its four-game road trip with a win at Dallas on Sunday.
Oklahoma City has been below the .500 mark since early November, but that does not mean the Thunder have failed to be competitive. They won 12 out of their last 19 games prior to the All-Star break, closing that stretch with a blowout win against Houston on Feb. 15. Oklahoma City returned from the break with five straight losses, losing all five of those games by single digits. The Thunder responded with a pair of double-digit wins at home against Utah last weekend before taking down Golden State on Tuesday. They were 4-point home underdogs in that contest, but they were able to overcome a 40-point showing from Steph Curry.
?It was just a matter of who could weather the storm the best. We did a good job of managing their runs.?
After an electric night from Paycom Center, @NickAGallo caught up with @joshgiddey. pic.twitter.com/bPUfFVZ6yv
— OKC THU NDER (@okcthunder) March 8, 2023
Point guard Josh Giddey posted a triple double with 17 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds, shooting 6 of 11 from the floor. All five starters scored in double figures, with shooting guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pouring in 33 points on 14 of 24 shooting. The Thunder were red-hot from beyond the arc, knocking down 17 of 37 (45.9%). They have been fantastic on that end of the court throughout the season, ranked second in points per game (118.2). This is going to be a difficult matchup, as Phoenix ranks third in points allowed per contest (111.1). Gilgeous-Alexander leads Oklahoma City with 31.1 points, 5.7 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game.
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