Thunder Gameday: Valentine’s Day in the Big Apple

On Monday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder will be in New York to take on the struggling Knicks. Sliding down the standings, New York is on the outside looking in of the playoff picture in the 12th seed.

If the Knicks are going to get things back on track following the NBA All-Star break, grabbing a win over the Thunder prior to that would be a good step in the right direction to make that happen. Oklahoma City will once again be without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in this matchup as he recovers from an ankle injury.

ODDS:

The Thunder enter the day as 8-point underdogs to the Knicks, and the total over/under is 206.5 points.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

The Knicks are extremely talented, but haven’t been able to put together a consistent stretch of games this season. Things have gotten worse over the past few weeks, as they’ve lost eight of their last ten games.

To put that into perspective, Oklahoma City has won more games over its last ten than New York.

Although the Knicks are struggling, RJ Barrett is blossoming into a star. At this point, he’s taking over as the face of the franchise, replacing Julius Randle who’s looked questionable on and off the court of late.

While the New York defense is league-average, it’s been the offense that’s held the team back. To this point in the season, the Knicks have the seventh-worst offensive rating (108.3) in the NBA.

The Thunder defense is top ten in the league, which could pose a problem for the Knicks. If OKC is able to lock down the key players on the New York roster, things will get interesting. Between Lu Dort and Darius Bazley, the Thunder have the individual defensive weapons to make that happen.

One player to keep an eye on in this matchup is Thunder rookie Josh Giddey, who is coming off of a triple-double coming into this matchup.

RECORDS:

Oklahoma City Thunder (17-39) vs. New York Knicks (25-32)

WHEN:

Monday, February 14, 2022 at 6:30 PM CT

LOCATION:

Madison Square Garden, New York, NY

TV/RADIO:

Bally Sports Oklahoma, NBA League Pass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal

FINAL WORD:

Following this contest, the Thunder will only have one more game before the break. They’ll get eight days off after Wednesday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs before kicking off the final stretch of the season.

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