Thunder Gameday: Oklahoma City Kicks Off Preseason Against Hornets

In the first game of their preseason campaign, the Oklahoma City Thunder will match up with the Charlotte Hornets.

With quite a few new faces on the Oklahoma City Thunder roster, their opening preseason contest against the Charlotte Hornets will provide a first look at a few players. They’ve got four rookies from the 2021 NBA Draft that will look to begin integrating into the lineup.

It will be the first ever game in the Paycom Center, after a naming rights change during the offseason.

KEYS TO THE GAME: 

The preseason is all about building chemistry and developing talent. It’s also a time where injuries are important to avoid, meaning the Thunder could be without several players on Monday.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault mentioned at practice on Sunday that Kenrich Williams will be a game-time decision. Additionally, Vit Krejci and Derrick Favors missed some practice this week, but both participated in some capacity on Sunday. Both will be worth keeping an eye on heading into the opening preseason game.

Regardless of who plays, the Thunder have a ton of guys on the roster that are brand new to the team. With that in mind, simply getting minutes on the court for many of these guys is key.

While NBA players are competitive and will look to win each preseason game, there’s more important things to work towards.

PRESEASON RECORDS: 

Oklahoma City Thunder (0-0) vs. Charlotte Hornets (0-0)

WHEN: 

Monday, October 4, 2021 at 7:00 PM CT

LOCATION: 

Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, OK

TV/RADIO: 

Bally Sports Oklahoma, NBA Leaguepass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal

FINAL WORD: 

It’s still fairly unclear how much each teams’ best players will play on Monday night, but it should be a competitive matchup nonetheless. The Hornets have a new-look roster that will look to build chemistry while the Thunder will look to develop the young guys on their roster. It will be interesting to see two former NBL stars in LaMelo Ball and Josh Giddey face off.

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