Oklahoma City and Detroit meet for the first time this season in our League Pass Game of the Day.

The Oklahoma City Thunder (54-12) square off with the Detroit Pistons (37-30) on Saturday (7 ET, League Pass). The Thunder picked up huge wins over Denver and Boston earlier this week, while the Pistons have cooled off a little recently, going 2-3 in their last five contests after winning nine of their previous ten.

Here are five things to know ahead of tip-off:

1. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in MVP race: SGA has been incredible in 2024-25, currently holding down the second spot in our Kia MVP Ladder. The silky-smooth guard leads the NBA in scoring with a career-high 32.8 points per game, adding 5.1 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.8 steals in 34.3 minutes a night. He’s fourth in individual offensive rating (122.1) and defensive rating (105.5), and ranks first in total net rating (16.6) and plus-minus (12.0). Over his last five appearances, Gilgeous-Alexander put up 38.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.2 blocks with unreal shooting splits of 54.5% FG/38.5% 3PT/97.8% FT.

2. Chet Holmgren getting back to form: It’s been a frustrating year for Holmgren, playing in just 21 games after not missing a single contest in 2023-24, but he’s back and getting healthy at the right time for OKC. In four games this month, Chet is averaging 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in only 29.5 minutes. He was dominant in the Thunder’s win over the Celtics on Wednesday this week, dropping 23 points and 15 boards while going 3-for-6 from three-point territory.

3. The absence of Jalen Williams: Williams and SGA have been a lethal one-two punch for the West-leading Thunder all season. Unfortunately for OKC, Williams is expected to miss some time moving forward due to a hip injury that forced him out of Monday’s loss to Denver after 14 minutes of action. He was starting to heat up in his last eight games, posting averages of 24.0 points, 5.3 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 48.5% from the floor and 40.4% from behind the arc. Holmgren, Isaiah Joe and Lu Dort will be tasked with picking up the slack while ‘J-Dub’ is on the shelf.

4. Top ten defenses in action: Both teams boast top ten defenses across the Association, setting up what should be a back-and-forth battle in the first matchup between these two talented squads. The Thunder have the best defensive rating at 106.2, but the Pistons aren’t too far behind them in tenth at 111.9.

5. Cade Cunningham has arrived: Cunningham has put the NBA on notice this season at age 23. The fourth-year guard is averaging career-highs in a number of statistical categories, including points (25.9), assists (9.3), minutes per game (35.3), field goal percentage (46.2), double-doubles (29), triple-doubles (8) and plus-minus (+3.1). In his last six contests, he’s exploded for 31.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, 8.2 assists and 1.7 steals in 35.5 minutes a night. Cade and SGA will be an exciting individual matchup to keep you glued to the screen in this one.