Thunder Schedule: OKC Wraps Up Preseason Play This Week
After a nice little gap between Oklahoma City’s first preseason game and the second contest, the Thunder will play the rest of their three preseason contests this week.
Starting on Sunday, the Thunder will visit the defending NBA Champions, and then return back to the Sooner State for a pair of contests against their division rivals, the Denver Nuggets.
The biggest key to preseason is building chemistry and players working themselves into game shape, but Oklahoma City will have a unique opportunity to test themselves against some of the league’s best before the wins and losses start to count in the regular season.
Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and his Milwaukee Bucks will host the Thunder on Sunday at 7 p.m., offering point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander another early peek at how teams may try to defend him this year as he battles against one of the best defensive teams in the league.
OKC will then return home to host the Denver Nuggets and reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic in a home back-to-back which will feature one contest in Oklahoma City and one game in Tulsa.
The first of those two games, coming on Oct. 13, will play at the normal home of the Thunder, the Paycom Center.
On the ensuing evening, both squads will take a trip up the turnpike to play in Oklahoma City’s annual preseason game in the BOK Center in Tulsa.
Both contests against the Nuggets will play at 7 p.m., and the back-to-back will be great experience for the young Oklahoma City front court.
Though Jokic will not play his normal load of minutes, the Denver big man is one of the biggest matchup nightmares in the NBA.
The three games will also offer another look at rookies Josh Giddey, Tre Mann, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins.
All four flashed at times in Oklahoma City’s preseason opener against Charlotte, and OKC coach Mark Daigneault will continue to put them in new positions as he tries to feel out exactly what the Thunder have in each of their rookies headed into the 2021-22 season.
The three preseason games will either be broadcast on Bally Sports Oklahoma or the Thunder will stream the game themselves via the Thunder Mobile App. The contests can also be heard on the radio state-wide on 98.1 FM The Sports Animal in Oklahoma City and in Tulsa via 97.1 FM The Sports Animal Tulsa.
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