Tuesday night in Oklahoma City isn’t exactly a Finals rematch with teeth, but it does give fans their first real look at the Thunder again inside Paycom Center. The Thunder skipped sending their regular rotation to Atlanta for the second night of the back-to-back, leaving only rookies, two-way players and exhibit-10 contracts on that trip. That means the home crowd should see plenty of Oklahoma City’s regular contributors in action, and it’s the last time the building gets a live look at the Bricktown Ballers before the regular-season home opener on Oct. 22 against the Denver Nuggets.
One of the biggest things to track is how Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to handle the ball in these preseason reps. In his preseason debut, he spent much of the night working off the ball rather than initiating everything himself, and that approach paid off in a big way.
He knocked down three catch-and-shoot threes, all of them good, while Oklahoma City’s offense hummed with more movement in a fast first half against Milwaukee last week. That fits with the work he put in over the summer, both on his own and with Team Canada, and this is another chance to see that progress show up against NBA competition.
Then there’s Mara, who has been one of the real stories of the preseason. The No. 12 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft has been a force for Oklahoma City at 7-foot-3, rolling hard to the rim, finishing around the basket, crashing the glass, contesting shots at the rim and sprinting the floor while looking noticeably stronger and better-conditioned.
He logged 33 minutes on Monday after playing both ends of the back-to-back a week ago, and he put up 17 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four blocks. The question now is whether the Thunder want to push him again on the second night of a back-to-back in a week.
With another game coming Thursday in Houston, a matchup that will likely be handled mostly by younger players, the safer play might be to give him the night off.
The other major storyline has Tyler Haliburton making the trip to Oklahoma City for the first time since Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals, when the Pacers lost the title game and he suffered the torn Achilles that knocked him out for the entire 2025-26 season. He had not traveled to Oklahoma City a year ago, saying at the time that he was not mentally ready to return to the Paycom Center.
Rick Carlisle said at his training camp media scrum that Haliburton was a full participant in Pacers practice on Monday and would at least travel with the team to Bricktown for Tuesday’s game. It remains unclear whether he’ll suit up, but even being in the building would stand out and almost certainly draw a huge reaction from the Thunder crowd. The Pacers will be back in Oklahoma City for their lone regular-season game there on Feb. 5, during the Thunder’s seven-game home stand leading into the All-Star Break.
In Other News...
Thunder Rookies Are Giving OKC Fans Something Real To Debate
The Thunders preseason trip to Atlanta gave Oklahoma City another reminder that the young talent is already part of the conversation, even if the results are still coming up short. In a 113-110 loss to the Hawks, the Thunder fell to 0-3 in the preseason, but the bigger takeaway for fans was how much the rookies kept showing up in the box score. Bennett Stirtz and Aday Mara were among the young players driving the offense and filling up other categories, giving the night a different feel than a routine October loss.
For a team with plenty of eyes on its developmental pipeline, performances like this can turn a preseason game into an early debate about who is ready now and who is still a little further away. Oklahoma City will get another chance to sort through those impressions in its next preseason game, a home matchup against Indiana, where the rookies should have another opportunity to make the case that they belong in the mix. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder Fans Just Got A Clearer Look At Daigneaults Roster Role
Mark Daigneaults place in the Thunders front office puzzle got a little clearer this week, and it helps explain how Oklahoma City has managed to keep so much continuity while still making aggressive roster moves. The head coach said his input matters in the conversation, but the final calls on personnel still belong to Sam Presti, which is the kind of arrangement that makes sense for a franchise trying to balance coaching perspective with a long-view roster plan.
Daigneaults comments arrive at a time when the league keeps offering reminders of how much the human side of roster building matters, from locker-room fit to players choosing stability over a fresh start. For the Thunder, the bigger takeaway is not just who gets brought in or moved out, but how the organization sorts through those decisions with a coach who is clearly part of the discussion without being the one holding the pen. [Read more 🡒]
Thunder's Unexpected Skid Is Testing Patience Even Before Opening Night
The Thunder have spent the months since their playoff run doing something they never wanted to carry into October: losing, and losing often. The skid has stretched across the end of the postseason, Summer League and preseason, with Oklahoma City dropped into an awkward run of results even as the roster has mostly been without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren.
Mark Daigneault has leaned into the teaching side of it, because the minutes have gone to younger and less experienced players who are trying to learn on the fly. The latest preseason loss fit that mold, and while the record has been ugly, the staff is treating these games less as a referendum on the Thunders ceiling and more as a chance to sort through the edges before opening night arrives. [Read more 🡒]