The schedule has not been kind to the Spurs recently, as they went into their holiday break with a back-to-back and came back to another two games on two nights. After beating the Jazz on Monday, the Thunder awaits in Oklahoma City on Tuesday, hoping to return to victory after losing to the Pelicans following a three-game winning streak.
The Thunder are in a strange position this season. They were clearly hoping to take a leap organically by adding ellite prospect Chet Holgrem, but an injury in preseason derailed those plans and left emerging superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to lead a group of unheralded role players.