The Oklahoma City Thunder will have two pieces of their core back against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
Wing Lu Dort, who missed two weeks in concussion protocol, will return to the lineup. Forward Darius Bazley, who has not played since March 4, is back from a left shoulder contusion.
Bazley missed 16 total games and Dort missed seven. The Thunder are 5-11 since Bazley’s injury and 1-6 since Dort’s.
The two will start against the Sixers alongside Theo Maledon, Aleksej Pokusevski and Moses Brown, head coach Mark Daigneault said.
“From a physicality standpoint on defense, both of those guys bring a great physical presence to our team,” Daigneault said.
“It’ll be really exciting to have those guys back, it’ll inject some energy into the team. And we’re looking forward to kind of picking up where we left off with those guys.”
Defensive has been the biggest struggle of the Thunder over the past couple weeks. With Dort and Bazley back, Oklahoma City has two capable defenders. Expect Dort to get time on Ben Simmons and Bazley on Tobias Harris, though Harris is listed as questionable.
The game between the Thunder and Sixers is scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m. Central Time. Tune to Bally Sports Oklahoma.
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