Thunder Won't Have Morrow Tonight Afterall

By Randy Renner

With Thunder shooting guard Anthony Morrow increasing his workload recently many had hoped and some (me included) had even expected the Thunder free agent signee would be on the floor tonight for the first time in the regular season.

However, head coach Scott Brooks told us a few minutes ago that Morrow will still be on the bench for tonight's game with the Kings.

"He's close," Brooks said of Morrow. "He's been getting in some good workouts but he's not quite ready."

No one else is ready to come off the Thunder's lengthy injury list either so the patched together starting lineup remains Reggie Jackson at point guard, Jeremy Lamb at shooting guard, Lance Thomas at small forward, Serge Ibaka at power forward and Steven Adams at center.

The Kings will have both Rudy Gay and DeMarcus Cousins their two leading scorers. Gay battled the stomach flu during Sacramento's game Friday night and Cousins has been hampered a little by a sprained thumb. The Thunder will get no breaks from the Kings tonight.

So Adams and Ibaka may split time trying to slow down Cousins while Thomas will have to take the bulk of the time against Gay.

It will be a tall task for the shorthanded Thunder but that's been the norm so far this season.

"I like what we're doing, every game is close," reminded Brooks. "The wins aren't piling up but I do see our team improving."

The Kings are 5-1 coming in and haven't gotten off to a start like that since 1999-00 season. The Thunder are the opposite at 1-5 and haven't had that bad a record after six games since their first season in OKC, 2008-09.

Click back after the game for a complete wrapup including interviews with Brooks and with players inside the Thunder lockerroom.