MONTREAL, CANADA – OCTOBER 12: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder dribbles the … [+] ball against Killian Hayes #7 of the Detroit Pistons during the first half of a preseason NBA game at Bell Centre on October 12, 2023 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Detroit Pistons defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 128-125. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Getty Images
The 2023-24 NBA campaign has officially kicked off, but most teams around the league won’t play their first contest of the season until today. This includes the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are one of the league’s quickest rising and most interesting teams.
While the franchise has made it clear that external expectations mean nothing to them in-house, there’s no question that those external expectations are high. The Thunder is coming off of a fantastic season and has an extremely bright future.
Advertisement
What can be expected in the 2023-24 season for Oklahoma City?
Schedule
The Thunder will open their season tonight on the road against the Chicago Bulls. Later this week, the home opener in Oklahoma City will be against the reigning champion Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.
Over the course of the 82-game season, the Thunder will play 13 nationally televised contests including four games on ESPN, four on TNT and five on NBA TV. The team will play 15 home weekend games and will host five homestands of at least three games or more.
Oklahoma City’s month-by-month breakdown includes four games in October, 14 games in November, 11 in December, 17 in January, 11 in February, 15 in March and eight games in April.
Advertisement
The Thunder’s New Year’s Eve tradition will continue as OKC hosts the Brooklyn Nets at Paycom Center. Right before that happens, the franchise will have a five-game home stretch during the holiday season in late December.
Oklahoma City will face 14 back-to-back sets during the season, which will prove to be difficult. There’s quite a few significant milestones along the way this season, but the young Thunder roster will take things day-by-day.
Final Roster
It was another October in which the Thunder carried more than the maximum 15 full-time players into training camp. As such, cuts and trades had to be made in order to finalize the final 15-man roster ahead of opening day. This team has quite a few returning players, but also several new faces.
Aaron Wiggins
Aleksej Pokusevski
Cason Wallace
Chet Holmgren
Davis Bertans
Isaiah Joe
Jalen Williams
Jaylin Williams
Josh Giddey
Kenrich Williams
Lu Dort
Ousmane Dieng
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Tre Mann
Vasilije Micic
Keyontae Johnson*
Lindy Waters*
Olivier Sarr*
*indicates two-way player
Predicted Starters
For the first time in several seasons, Oklahoma City has a clear starting five for opening night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Lu Dort
Josh Giddey
Jalen Williams
Chet Holmgren
While these will be the opening night starters, that doesn’t mean it’s set in stone for the entire season. There will always be injuries as well as players that could slip to the bench during a slump or to mix things up during points in the 2023-24 campaign. Furthermore, certain matchups could results in a different starting unit to align better to the opposing team in that situation.
Projections and Expectations
After exceeding expectations last season and getting better on paper this summer, the Thunder will have the opportunity to make the postseason once again this time around. However, the team will look to make the true playoffs and get through — or even skip — the play-in tournament.
Advertisement
With that in mind, the NBA is a tough league and development isn’t always linear. As such, it’s fair to enter the season with realistic expectations.
While it wouldn’t be another huge step forward, a 41-41 season feels like it would be a solid campaign for Oklahoma City on the conservative side of things. Although the roster should be better, injuries could arise and the Western Conference as a whole has also improved. This would be a one-win improvement from the 2022-23 season and a step in the right direction.
In short, this Thunder team is set up for short and longer term success. Its one of the most interesting young teams in the league and external expectations will be high, although Oklahoma City is staying patient.
Central Arkansas Bears (3-8) at Oklahoma Sooners (11-0)
Norman, Oklahoma; Sunday, 1 p.m. EST
Advertisement
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Sooners -28.5; over/under is 145.5
BOTTOM LINE: No. 14 Oklahoma hosts Central Arkansas after Jeremiah Fears scored 30 points in Oklahoma’s 87-86 victory over the Michigan Wolverines.
The Sooners have gone 6-0 at home. Oklahoma has a 2-0 record in games decided by less than 4 points.
The Bears are 0-6 on the road. Central Arkansas ranks fourth in the ASUN with 23.8 defensive rebounds per game led by Brayden Fagbemi averaging 4.6.
Oklahoma averages 82.0 points, 5.2 more per game than the 76.8 Central Arkansas allows. Central Arkansas averages 9.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 2.5 more made shots on average than the 6.5 per game Oklahoma allows.
Advertisement
TOP PERFORMERS: Fears is scoring 17.9 points per game with 3.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Sooners.
Layne Taylor is scoring 17.0 points per game and averaging 4.4 rebounds for the Bears.
LAST 10 GAMES: Sooners: 10-0, averaging 80.9 points, 29.3 rebounds, 14.1 assists, 10.1 steals and 1.9 blocks per game while shooting 47.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.5 points per game.
Bears: 3-7, averaging 73.0 points, 34.3 rebounds, 14.3 assists, 8.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 38.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 75.7 points.
___
Advertisement
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – The Oklahoma City Fire Department responded to a commercial fire near the area of NW 10th and N Western Avenue.
OKCFD were at the scene of a commercial fire around 7 p.m. Saturday night, when they arrived there was heavy smoke visible from multiple floors of a boarded up building.
One adult female was found in the building and taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.
At this time no cause has been reported.
Advertisement
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
NORMAN — Bowl season is a bit unconventional for Navy.
The Midshipmen annually play against Army six days after the bowl schedule is released. That was the case this year, as Navy beat the Black Knights 31-13 on Dec. 14.
Beating Army is always a highlight for the Midshipmen. But the drawback for them is that they have less time than their bowl opponent to prepare for the game.
In this case, that’s Oklahoma. The Sooners will enter the game with more than two weeks of preparation for Navy’s triple-option offense.
Advertisement
“It’s just a little different,” Navy coach Brian Newberry told reporters earlier this week. “They’ve known they’re going to play us for a little time now.”
Navy Coach, Oklahoma Native Brian Newberry Grew Up On OU Football
Navy does, however, enter the Armed Forces Bowl with momentum.
The Midshipmen (9-3) eased past Army last week in Landover, MD. They outgained the Black Knights 384-179 and forced Army quarterback Bryson Daily to throw three interceptions.
Navy’s rivalry win was its third in the last four games after the Midshipmen went on a two-game skid in the middle of the season. Newberry cited his team’s physicality in recent games, particularly in the Midshipmen’s drubbing of Army.
Advertisement
“I was so impressed with how our kids handled the moment,” Newberry said. “Army’s a really, really good football team. I thought we physically dominated the game in the way that we blocked, beat blocks, the way we tackled. I thought we outplayed them in all three phases, so I’m really, really proud of that.”
A stark difference between the teams is the number of players that have entered the transfer portal.
The Sooners have seen 25 players from their 2024 team enter the portal. The Midshipmen have suffered only one departure in the winter portal window with defensive back Lorenzo Vitti.
On one hand, that makes Oklahoma preparation tough for Navy.
“It’s interesting,” Newberry said. “We’re going through their two-deep and trying to figure out who’s going to play and who isn’t. It’s a little bit of a challenge in that regard. And it could certainly change with a different quarterback.”
Advertisement
But largely, the Midshipmen’s lack of transfers gives Newberry confidence that his team will be bought in for one more game in 2024.
“The portal can affect us, players can jump in the portal — we’re not getting that,” Newberry said. “It’s challenging to build a culture anywhere in college football right now, one that’s built on a certain level of trust. They know each other really, really well. They’ve fought through adversity. They stay the course, they pay the price and they have an opportunity.”
Navy will also play for more than just another win; the Midshipmen are looking to make history.
Navy has reached the 10-win mark just four times in program history. The Midshipmen did so three times under former coach Ken Niumatalolo from 2009-2019.
Having a shot at history while playing Oklahoma — the state that Newberry hails from — excites the coach.
Advertisement
“It’s the last time that this team gets to play together,” Newberry said. “They want to go out the right way against a storied program like Oklahoma. It’s a great reward to play in a bowl game, but it’s a game we want to win.”
The Midshipmen and Sooners will play in the Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth at 11 a.m. on Dec. 27.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25789444/1258459915.jpg "OpenAI cofounder Ilya Sutskever says the way AI is built is about to change")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25546252/STK169_Mark_Zuckerburg_CVIRGINIA_D.jpg "Meta asks the US government to block OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit")
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23951353/STK043_VRG_Illo_N_Barclay_3_Meta.jpg "Meta’s Instagram boss: who posted something matters more in the AI age")
