Thunder Gameday: OKC Faces the Heat in Cross-Conference Matchup
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Home, sweet home.
After a tumultuous West coast trip, the Oklahoma City Thunder will finally head back home to go up against the Miami Heat on Friday night.
The road trip saw the Thunder pick up two wins against the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers, but also fell to the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers. It featured a lot of ups and downs, and Oklahoma City is certainly ready to be back in Paycom Center.
Miami is coming off a loss agains the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, but has played great basketball throughout the season. It only sits as the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference, but as we've seen in the least few years, the Heat are built for the playoffs rather than the regular season.
It will be an intriguing matchup for both sides, and awhile it could be an overestimate to consider the idea of it being an NBA Finals preview, it's not out of the realm of possibility.
Luguentz Dort (left), Bam Adebayo (right)
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
ODDS:
The Thunder enter the day as 8.5-point favorites over the Heat, and the total over/under is 225.5 points.
KEYS TO THE GAME:
The Heat have acquired a recipe for success. Led by the trio of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro — who are all averaging over 20 points per game this season — it plays a gritty defensive game along with a spaced out floor, surrounding its star duo with capable 3-point shooters.
Playing Miami is never easy, but as the Thunder has shown earlier in the season, it's doable.
Oklahoma City won their last encounter on Jan. 10 by eight points, with its very own trio of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams doing most of the work, scoring 70 of its 128 total points. However, the Thunder didn't have to face Butler in that matchup.
Butler can be one of the most difficult defenders to match up against, which could pose problems for Oklahoma City. It saw a very different Heat team a month ago, so it has to be prepared for their superstar talent's tough defense and efficient offense.
Miami has one of the slowest paced systems in the entire league, which the Thunder directly counter with its fast-paced brand of basketball. This could be an area that it exploits, especially if the Heat get stagnant.
RECORDS:
Oklahoma City Thunder (43-19) vs. Miami Heat (35-27)
INJURIES:
Check out our live injury tracker, along with our game day injury report that will release later today.
WHEN:
Friday, March 8, at 7 p.m. CT
LOCATION:
Paycom Center - Oklahoma City, OK
TV/Radio:
NBA League Pass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal
Live Stream: fuboTV (Start Your Free Trial)
FINAL WORD:
This is a matchup that the NBA only gets to see twice a season, so it will be interesting to see how both teams stack up during a very different place in their respective seasons from last go around. Oklahoma City has started to struggle in recent games, but this could be a respectable win that gets it back on a winning streak amid a tough battle in the West.
The Thunder will follow by staying home to play the Memphis Grizzlies (22-41) on Sunday, March 10 at 6 p.m. CT.
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