Stiles Points: OKC Thunder Have A Pathway to Capitalize on Final Back-to-Back

The Oklahoma City Thunder have one more back-to-back this season with a pathway to manage the difficult stretch.

Mar 22, 2024; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault talks to guard / John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Oklahoma City Thunder will conclude their regular season with a four-game home stand that features the teams final back-to-back beginning on Tuesday against the Sacramento Kings and the second leg coming Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs.

These final four games separate the Thunder from a week off heading into the NBA Playoffs where game one will be in the Paycom Center officially following Sunday's results.

On Tuesday to open up the final two games in as many nights stretch, the OKC Thunder project to have superstar guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander back in the fold. The MVP candidate has missed six of the last seven Thunder games with a quad contusion that he initially suffered on March 20 against the Jazz.

However, his rising star scoring mate, Jalen Williams, remains questionable with an ankle sprain sustained against the New York Knicks during a dead ball to open up the road trip. Williams has nursed an ankle injury for the majority of the season and has missed the last four contests for the Thunder.

With how well Mark Daigneault's rotational players like Aaron Wiggins, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, Kenrich Williams and Jaylin Williams are playing -- along with the massive turnaround Josh Giddey has seen over the past month and Chet Holmgren continuing his fantastic rookie season -- Oklahoma City can balance the next two games.

As Gilgeous-Alexander is set to return against the Kings, him being thrown into the rotation laid out above should be enough to knock off the reeling Kings who are 5-5 in their last ten games.

Should Oklahoma City be able to sneak past the Kings, on Wednesday against San Antonio swapping the Santa Clara product for Gilgeous-Alexander should be enough to knock off the spunky Spurs who sit last in the West and 4-6 in their last ten games.

This would allow the Thunder to manage their ailing stars while not being put against the wall when taking on two intense games for varying reasons.

With the Kings fighting for playoff seeding and a motivated Victor Wembanyama taking his last crack at Chet Holmgren in the last marquee game of his rookie campaign, Oklahoma City will need to balance this

Stiles Points

• The Oklahoma City Blue will take on the Maine Celtics in Game One of the NBA G League Finals on Tuesday before Game Two shifts to Oklahoma City on Thursday. This game will be on ESPN News.
• The previous two games Gilgeous-Alexander has returned from injury, he has made some big plays. Despite struggling most of the night against the Knicks, the star sank the game-winner in the Garden. Earlier this season, the MVP candidate returned from an injury to the tune of 30 points, eight rebounds and six assists en route to a win over the Hawks. Expect a good game from Gilgeous-Alexander tonight.
• Oklahoma City sits a game out of first place in the Western Conference and three games up on the fourth-seeded Clippers. With the tiebreaker over the Clippers, it seems likely the lowest the Thunder will fall is fourth. They can solidify that tonight against the Kings or with a Clippers loss to the Suns.
• The Minnesota Timberwolves battle the disastrous Washington Wizards and the Denver Nuggets take on the lowly Utah Jazz.

Song of the Day: My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen.

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