Stiles Points: Sunday’s National TV Game Soon To Be the Norm for OKC Thunder

On Sunday, the NBA continues its annual tradition of loading up a National TV slate as the NFL gets out of the way post-All-Star Break.

As the league attempts to showcase its season to casual viewers to get you hooked heading into the postseason, the Oklahoma City Thunder (41-18) take center stage.

The Thunder travel to Phoenix to take on the Suns which puts Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Devin Booker in front of a national audience on ESPN.

This on the heels of a Chet Holmgren vs Victor Wembanyama title fight tucked away on Bally Sports, you could expect tonight to become the norm for Oklahoma City compared to Thursday's affair.

Rostering the MVP favorite who shows no signs of slowing down, two potential All-Stars, a plethora of bench pieces and one of the best coaches in the sport that gets his squad to take each game seriously rarely suffering a blowout loss, there is no better bet in the league at quality basketball in the regular season than the Thunder.

This season, the Thunder have only appeared on National TV nine times including NBATV contests. and project to finish with 14 contests across NBATV, ESPN, TNT, and ABC.

During the 2023-24 season, 14 games will just be the starting point of the major network contests before the NBATV throw-ins.

Stiles Points

Newly signed Mike Muscala will sport the No. 50 in Oklahoma City, making him just the second Thunder player to ever wear the digits. Former second-round pick and current New Orleans Pelicans big man Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was the first. In his first stint with the OKC Thunder, Muscala sported No. 33, but recently acquired Gordon Hayward has taken over the number for this year's squad.
Muscala is the 11th player in Thunder history to wear two different uniform numbers for Oklahoma City joining Thabo Sefolosha, Derek Fisher, Dion Waiters, Darius Bazley, Kyle Singler, Enes Freedom, Nazr Mohammed, Jaylen Hoard, Nerlens Noel and Devon Hall
The Thunder injury report does not include Muscala making him eligible to debut against the Suns. However, as Mark Daigneault said at practice on Friday, the Thunder will miss Jaylin Williams due to a knee sprain.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander not only holds the second-best odds to win the MVP award, but the Thunder superstar has climbed into the top five for the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
The Houston Rockets pulled off the upset over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday as Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Grayson Allen each logged over 35 minutes on the front end of a back-to-back. A fast start against the Suns will be key to putting this game away as the Thunder have their own back-to-back to manage.

Song Of The Day: By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Glen Campbell.

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