NBA Game of the Week: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies will be traveling to play the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday.

With less than a month left in the NBA season, both of these teams are beginning to prepare themselves for the playoffs.

The Thunder have recently clinched the No. 1 seed in the West with a record of 60-12. The Grizzlies haven’t clinched anything yet, but they are sitting at No. 4 in the West with a 44-28 record.

With the Western Conference being so tight this year, Memphis is only three and a half games above the Los Angeles Clippers who are currently ranked as the No. 7 seed.

This means that the Grizzlies are not completely safe from the play-in tournament.

Oppositely, the Thunder don’t have much to play for seeding-wise, but they are looking to complete the series sweep over the Grizzlies as they lead it 3-0.

When these organizations faced each other earlier this month, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up 41 points and led the Thunder to a 120-103 victory.

Gilgeous-Alexander leads the league in points per game, averaging 32.8. He has scored 40 or more points 12 times this season.

Alternatively, Jaren Jackson Jr. leads the Grizzlies with 22.4 PPG.

Not far behind Jackson Jr. is Grizzlies guard Ja Morant who is averaging 22.3 PPG. However, Morant has missed the past five games with a left hamstring strain. He remains questionable for Thursday’s matchup.

Morant put up 44 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the last time he played on March 14.

With Morant missing, Oklahoma City guard Jalen Williams will look to take advantage of his matchup. He is currently Oklahoma City’s second-leading scorer, averaging 21.3 PPG.

In terms of their frontcourt, Oklahoma City has one of the best big-man duos in the league with Chet Holmgren at power forward and Isaiah Hartenstein at center. Hartenstein has put up solid numbers thus far in his first season with the Thunder, he is averaging 11.1 rebounds per game.

These two will have to face off against the 7-foot-3 rookie out of Purdue, Zach Edey. Although he is just a rookie, Edey has been getting a lot of starts for the Grizzlies and has averaged a team-high 7.7 RPG.

The Thunder are red hot right now. They are on a seven-game winning streak and have won 14 of their last 15 games.

They hope to keep this momentum rolling into the playoffs, which start April 19.

As for the Grizzlies, they will look to get a winning streak of their own going after a 140-103 win over the Jazz on Tuesday night. This was a much-needed win, considering they lost their previous three games.

These are two teams that are very familiar with each other’s style of play. This should make for a great matchup, even if Morant won’t be on the court.

With time winding down in the season, the Thunder will hope to continue their domination.

As for Memphis, they look to get healthy and get back on track before the regular season ends. Thursday’s game would be a great time for them to do this against one of the NBA’s top squads.

This is a potential playoff matchup that fans might see come later, so stay tuned to see how these teams battle it out.

Chase Brosend is a first-year majoring in journalism. To contact him, email czb5975@psu.edu.