The Oklahoma City Thunder won't exactly have a ton of depth in their backcourt when they take on the Sacramento Kings Wednesday night. The NBA announced that guards Dennis Schroder and Raymond Felton have each been suspended for one game for leaving the bench against the Chicago Bulls. Both players were involved in the altercation that took place between Jermai Grant and Robin Lopez during the third quarter of Monday's game.
OKC’s Raymond Felton and Dennis Schroder have been suspended one game by the NBA for altercation against the Bulls.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 19, 2018
The penalty leaves OKC thin in its backcourt against Sacramento (10 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension). The Thunder (19-10) are winners of two straight and look to extend their streak and maintain their lead over the fourth-place Lakers.
Now the Thunder will be without two of their top backup options in the backcourt. Schroder has been heavily used as a reserve throughout the season thus far and has averaged 16.6 points while shooting 33.9 percent from beyond the arc. The former first-round pick was extremely efficient against the Bulls as he scored 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
Felton hasn't been receiving the type of heavy usage that he had enjoyed earlier in his career, which makes sense at this stage. The veteran guard has only been playing 11 minutes per contest, but his presence will still be missed against Sacramento.
The Thunder will likely have to rely on Russell Westbrook to play a ton of minutes, which should not be a problem as this is something that the All-Star guard is used to doing on a nightly basis. Alex Abrines and Terrance Ferguson will also be looked at to fill the void that is left by the absence of Schroder and Felton.