Thunder/Knicks Primer

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue their three-game road trip when they visit the Knicks on Friday. Friday is the first meeting between the two teams this season, last year the Thunder swept the Kicks scoring 127 points in both games.

The Thunder are coming off another clutch performance beating the Pistons on Wednesday 114-107. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had his best night as a Thunder shooting 80 percent while scoring 27 points.

SGA swings by the @nbastore in NYC to visit with fans 🖊 pic.twitter.com/RunjykWkLN
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 6, 2020

Gilgeous-Alexander was most impressive in the third quarter win in 9:58; he racked up 13 points. A Thunder win would be the 11th in their last 12 road games. Since the beginning of December, Oklahoma City has the best road record in the NBA with at 17-4.

As for the Knicks, they are 3-7 in their last ten games. Julius Randle scored 32 in New York's 112-104 loss to the Jazz on Wednesday. The Knicks will be without Dennis Smith Jr., who is in the concussion protocol.

The Thunder should have their full complement of players. Against Detriot, Danilo Gallinari played the second game of a back to back for the first time all season.

Oklahoma City is currently 38-24 and a game and half behind Utah and Houston for the fourth/fifth seed in the western conference. Since the Thunder began in 2008, they are 15-6 vs. the Knicks, including a 6-4 mark in Madison Square garden.

Key Matchup:

Whoever is guarding RJ Barrett and Julius Randle. Randle is averaging 19 points a game, Barrett 14. You figure Dort will draw the task of slowing down Barrett while Galliari would have to deal with Randle. You know your mission, guys, may the force be with you.

Special Occasion:

The Thunder and Knicks will pay tribute to police, fire, and rescue crews from Oklahoma City and New York who responded to the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Friday will be the first time the Thunder will wear their city edition uniforms on the road.

Vegas Says:

Thunder -7

Add us as a preferred source on Google