Thunder Friday Nights: Oklahoma City Hosts Milwaukee With Playoff Seeding On The Line

The Milwaukee Bucks will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder in an interconference matchup on Friday. Oklahoma City is 55-25 overall and 31-8 at home, while Milwaukee is 49-31 overall and 18-20 on the road. The Bucks defeated the Thunder, 118-93, in Milwaukee on March 24 in their first meeting of the season. 

It's another 'Thunder Friday Nights' matchup! You can tune in to the ball game for free as the Thunder take on the Bucks. You can watch the game live in Tulsa on COX CH 53 and 6.3 or in OKC on COX CH 7 and KSBI 52.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. on Friday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.

What to know about the Thunder

The Thunder have won three straight games and are coming off a 127-89 victory over the Spurs on Wednesday.

Oklahoma City is tied with the Timberwolves for the second-best record in the Western Conference and one game behind the Nuggets for the top seed.

They aren't showing any signs of resting key players over the final weekend of the season and should have a full lineup against the Bucks on Friday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 26 points against the Spurs and is third in the NBA in scoring at 30.4 points per game this season. 

Josh Giddey added 20 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists against San Antonio.

Gordon Hayward added 18 points on 6 of 8 shooting over 20 minutes in his best game since being acquired from the Hornets and has the potential to provide a spark off the bench.

The Thunder are third in the league in scoring, averaging 119.8 ppg with the third-best field goal percentage (49.8%) in the NBA. See which team to pick here.

What to know about the Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks won’t have either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Damian Lillard available for their Friday night game with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Bucks released an injury report Friday afternoon that ruled Lillard out with a sore left adductor. The Bucks already had announced Wednesday that Antetokounmpo would miss the rest of the regular season with a strained left calf.

Khris Middleton will be available for Milwaukee after missing the Bucks’ victory over the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. The Bucks have been monitoring Middleton’s workload after a sprained left ankle caused the three-time All-Star to sit out 16 straight games this season.

This will be the Bucks’ ninth game without Lillard and eighth game without Antetokounmpo this season. The Bucks have gone 1-7 without Lillard and 4-3 without Antetokounmpo.