Rumors

“Do you have any—someone in the chat asked—do you have any regrets in your NBA career?” Dillon Brooks: “I would say, uh, not working as hard as I did now. Like before, like I wish I worked this hard now before when I was on Memphis.” “’Cause that squad that we had in Memphis, we could have been already like on the OKC wave.” “Like actually OKC was on our wave. Like all that stuff they were doing, like that’s what we were doing from time. “They just—they just copied it. Damn flow. Try to steal our whole—our whole s***. “Like, you know, like all the—you know, after the game when you’re doing like your walk-off thing and the whole team will come and like, you know, big you up. And then like even like before like the beginning of the game when we would all like dance in the like dance in the middle and like do all different different s***.”

YouTube

Shams Charania: Denver's Nikola Jokic – out since Dec. 29 with a knee injury – plans to return tonight against the Los Angeles Clippers at home, sources tell ESPN. Jokic now is in position to also play in Sunday's showdown vs. Oklahoma City in Denver and be eligible for the season awards.

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Anthony Morrow: Our fans are the greatest fans on Earth, any sport to me. And you know, it is what it is. And not a hot take, but I'm going to just say this: Honestly, I think Kevin Durant is going to end his career in Oklahoma City like when he's done. Q. Really? You think so? Morrow: Yeah. I think Kev is going to come back to Oklahoma City for real.

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Anthony Morrow: Right now San Antonio is like the little brother of Oklahoma City. Like they're right in the same path. Like you see how Sam Presti has developed this team to be what they are now. It's the same as what San Antonio was with developing who they were and they've been sustainable. Shout out to Coach Popovich, RC Buford, doing that work over there and just the development, and I know Sam kind of took that blueprint and went there with it. I would love to see them in the Western Conference Finals every year for the next five years or something like that because they still young.

YouTube

Jake Fischer: Multiple sources with knowledge of Milwaukee had indicated the Bucks’ loss to Oklahoma City last Wednesday, and Giannis Antetokounmpo’s frustrations postgame, as a point of no return. The phrase we’ve heard over and over “the writing is on the wall,” from teammates and Bucks figures, all led rival teams to believe Giannis was in play before next Thursday’s deadline.

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Joel Lorenzi: SGA looked to b-line right to the locker room. Seemed pissed about the way things played out, particularly the end when he was pleading for a foul call earlier in the backcourt. OKC losing its versatility with every injury, and missing that O board is an awful way to lose.

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Scott Agness: I’m told Tyrese Haliburton is not with the Pacers tonight in Oklahoma City, the site of his Game 7 injury. He’s been with the team for every game despite being ruled out for the season. This is his first absence.

bsky.app

Charlotte Hornets PR: UPDATE: @hornets have upgraded Moussa Diabate, Kon Knueppel and Tidjane Salaun to probable for today’s game in OKC

Twitter

Duane Rankin: "We wanted to get him in his spot, middle of the floor. Trust Book with everything on our team." Dillon Brooks on Devin Booker game-winning 3 with 0.7 seconds left in Suns 108-105 win over defending NBA champion Oklahoma City. On if his impact on helping a team take next step

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Marc Stein: Jonathan Kuminga will play tonight for Golden State in its @NBAonPrime game against visiting Oklahoma City after five straight DNP-CDs. "For sure," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said today in a @957thegame appearance. "He'll be out there." Kuminga becomes trade-eligible Jan. 15.

Twitter

Marc Stein: Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and New York's Jalen Brunson were just named Western and Eastern Conference Player of the Month for December:

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Last June, with the confetti still being swept off the Paycom Center floor, a blue-clad crowd gathered inside the Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse to celebrate Oklahoma City’s NBA championship. Surrounded by friends and family (and a healthy number of their friends and their families), Thunder players, coaches and staffers partied deep into the night. Guests picked at buffet tables lined with steak medallions and crab cakes. Against a wall, the Larry O’Brien trophy rested as a prop for pictures. Champagne that went largely untouched in Oklahoma City’s locker room—what do you expect from a title winner led by a bunch of early-20-somethings who needed help figuring out how to pop the cork?—flowed liberally into glass flutes. A few freshly shotgunned beer cans littered the floor. In the middle of it all was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s MVP, scoring champion and Finals MVP, the fourth player ever to complete that trifecta in one season. In between hugs and high fives, Gilgeous-Alexander was overheard offering a promise: I can be so much better.

Sports Illustrated

Brad Rowland: Update: Trae Young is OUT tonight. No Young and no Jalen Johnson in OKC.

bsky.app

Ohm Yungmisuk: After sitting the last two weeks with illness, Atlanta Hawks big man Kristaps Porzingis will also miss Monday’s road game in Oklahoma City and then be listed day-to-day for a return to play, sources told me and @ShamsCharania .

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