If the Washington Wizards wanted empirical evidence of what the perfect rebuild can produce, the schedule-makers provided it Monday night in the form of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder, reestablished as the class of the Western Conference after a three-year lull,

Missing Bilal Coulibaly, Alex Sarr, and Kyle Kuzma due to injury, the Washington Wizards hung tough against the vastly superior Oklahoma City Thunder before succumbing to a fourth quarter onslaught and losing,

After not playing at home since Dec. 10, the OKC Thunder are finally back in the Sooner State to take on a poor Eastern Conference opponent.

The Thunder (22-5) have won seven in a row sans the NBA Cup finals. They didn't let built-in excuses stop them from sweeping their Florida back-to-back. They won a low-scoring contest against the Miami Heat on Friday. Jalen Williams scored a season-high 33 points.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s (24-5) injury report has four players listed heading into a Saturday, December 28 matchup with the Charlotte Hornets (7-23, two injured players) at Spectrum Center, with a start time of 6:00 PM ET.

The Thunder (23-5) have won eight in a row sans the NBA Cup finals. They dominated the Washington Wizards for a quick home game on Monday as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 41 points. Meanwhile, the Pacers (15-15) have won five in a row to claw back to .