Phoenix @ Oklahoma City preview

Last Meeting ( Mar 2, 2018 ) Oklahoma City 124, Phoenix 116

The Oklahoma City Thunder can't afford to suffer through any lengthy losing streaks with the Western Conference packed as tightly as it is from three through 10. Luckily, the schedule is lining up nicely for the Thunder to avoid a three-game slide with the lowly Phoenix Suns visiting on Thursday.

Oklahoma City sits in the No. 7 spot in the West after suffering losses to two of the teams above it in the standings -- Houston and Portland -- but is just two games ahead of the 10th-place Utah Jazz entering play on Wednesday and 2 1/2 back of the third-place Trail Blazers in the other direction. The Thunder have a chance to make a run with three of the next four opponents sitting over 20 games under .500 and the next three at home, where they own a 21-11 record. The Suns aren't putting up much of a fight as they battle with the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings for last place in the West and are losers of three straight and 13 of the last 14. The current slide began at home against Oklahoma City on Friday, when Russell Westbrook collected 43 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in the 124-116 decision.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS Arizona (Phoenix), FS Oklahoma

ABOUT THE SUNS (19-47): Phoenix is halfway through a four-game road trip and dropped a 113-112 decision at Atlanta to begin the excursion before falling 125-103 at Miami on Monday. "We can't make excuses," shooting Devin Booker told reporters after the loss to the Heat. "I think we took a step back today. We were on the right path four previous games with our energy level and we didn't have that tonight. ... We said at the All-Star break, these last 23 games we're trying to see consistency, we're trying to see development and you can't be taking a step back." Booker continues to carry the load offensively and is averaging 32.8 points in the last five games, including 39 in Friday's loss to the Thunder.

ABOUT THE THUNDER (37-29): Oklahoma City forward Carmelo Anthony moved into the top 20 on the NBA's all-time scoring list on Tuesday, passing Hall of Famer Jerry West. Anthony got the night off on the second night of a back-to-back at Portland on Saturday and looked refreshed on Tuesday while scoring 23 points. "He got some really, really good looks. He had good bounce today," Thunder coach Billy Donovan told reporters of Anthony. "He played well tonight. His effort was very, very good. He was giving great effort on defense as best he could, and he certainly shot the ball extremely well in the first half."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Thunder SF Corey Brewer went scoreless in his first game after signing with the team on Saturday but scored 10 points in 23 minutes off the bench on Tuesday.

2. Suns SG Troy Daniels (knee) sat out Monday and is day-to-day.

3. Phoenix claimed a 114-100 triumph over Oklahoma City at home on Jan. 7.

PREDICTION: Thunder 126, Suns 113