Preview: Russell Westbrook leads Thunder into Atlanta for yearly visit

The Atlanta Hawks and Oklahoma City Thunder haven’t met since late December and, in that game, reigning NBA MVP Russell Westbrook capped a victory for the Thunder with a three-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining. Since then, much has changed for the Hawks but, if anything, the team’s performance on the road in Oklahoma City could provide some sliver of optimism for the return date in Atlanta.

The Hawks have dropped three straight on the heels of a dismal defensive performance on Sunday and, even with the positive mojo emanating from career performances for Taurean Prince and Mike Muscala, there isn’t a ton of reason to believe Atlanta can send OKC home with a victory. The visiting Thunder enter this game as solid Las Vegas favorites (to the surprise of no one) and, even with some questionable recent performance, there is no question that Westbrook, Paul George and company arrive with the more talented roster.

From an injury perspective, things are ugly for the Hawks. Kent Bazemore could miss the rest of the season with a knee injury and Jaylen Morris is unavailable for Tuesday’s game. As a result, Atlanta’s wing rotation is vastly compromised (with only Taurean Prince, Tyler Dorsey, Andrew White and, potentially, newly signed wing Damion lee available) and, well, facing a team with Westbrook and George (among others) isn’t ideal for that.

There is still NBA basketball on the horizon and you can stick with us throughout the day for all the latest. Stay tuned.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, March 13, 7:30 pm ET

Location: Philips Arena

TV: Fox Sports Southeast, Fox Sports Go, NBA League Pass

Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta)