The two hottest teams in the NBA will face each other Friday night when the New York Knicks play the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Knicks are on a nine-game winning streak, one of their longest in team history.
The Thunder have won 13 straight games, marking their longest winning streak since the franchise moved from Seattle in 2008.
A win on Friday would match the franchise’s longest winning streak of 14 games set in 1995-96 as the Seattle SuperSonics.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault isn’t too focused on the streak, especially with the Knicks and Boston Celtics upcoming to finish a five-game homestand.
“Anything like that, you stack up to it,” Daigneault said. “It’s possession after possession, day after day, and then sometimes you look up and you’ve won a certain amount of games in a row.”
Friday’s game will showcase strength vs. strength when the Knicks have the ball.
The Thunder have allowed the fewest points per game in the NBA at 103.2, while the Knicks are fifth in scoring, averaging 117.9 points per game.
“They’re better than they’ve ever been,” New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns said. “So we gotta be at our best to go out there and compete at a high level.”
The Thunder are coming off a 116-98 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, a game where star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander didn’t play in the fourth quarter due to a comfortable lead.
That could help keep Gilgeous-Alexander fresh for Friday’s game.
Gilgeous-Alexander has played all 33 games this season, his longest streak without missing a game to start the season since 2019-20, his first year with the Thunder after being traded from the Clippers.
Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 31.2 points per game this season.
Friday’s game will be the first matchup for Oklahoma City’s Isaiah Hartenstein against the Knicks since he signed with the Thunder as a free agent after spending the last two seasons with New York.
New York could be without its top point guards again.
Both Jalen Brunson (right calf tightness) and Miles McBride (left hamstring tightness) are listed as questionable after missing Wednesday’s win over Utah.
That 119-103 victory sent a message, according to Josh Hart.
“We have great depth. We’ve got guys that can score the ball,” Hart said. “It just shows the difference between last year and this year.”
If Brunson and McBride are out again, Cameron Payne is likely to have a bigger role.
Payne played 35 minutes and recorded nine assists, both season highs, in the win over the Jazz.
“Everybody just stays ready,” Payne said. “I feel like we’ve got a pretty good bench and everybody is always working on their game. And when their time is called, everybody is ready.”
Friday’s game will be the first of two matchups this season between the teams. The two will also meet next Friday in New York.
