Oklahoma City Thunder seek to extend win streak vs Pelicans 12.4.16

With the New Orleans Pelicans in town the Oklahoma City Thunder have the number five on their minds.

Streaks are precarious beasts, but the Oklahoma City Thunder and Russell Westbrook enter this evening looking to tempt fate. Specifically,  the Thunder want to extend their 4-game win streak while Westbrook will attempt to register his fifth consecutive triple-double.

Looking back, the preseason narrative had the Thunder struggling with the loss of a certain small forward, whereas the Pelicans were expected to be among the West’s elite. Cut to present and arguably the exact opposite is the case.  Behind the super herculean efforts of Westbrook the Thunder sit in 6th place (1 game out of a home court berth).

Conversely, the Pelicans sputtered out of the gate (0-8) and are replicating their injury misfortunes of last season. Jrue Holiday’s return sparked the Pelicans to 4 consecutive victories. However, that feel good run has given way to mediocrity as New Orleans has since gone 1-3. Things don’t improve much for New Orleans on the road where they are 2-7.  Entering the match the Pelicans sit in 12th and remain 3 games out of the final playoff position.

Since the Thunder last saw the Pelicans, significant changes have occurred with 7 new faces on the roster.  Gone are two of the Pels main perimeter scorers (Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon) which inevitably has effected New Orleans 3-point production and style of play.

With that in mind, let’s break down the match  with a view to those roster changes, starting and reserve line-ups, statistical comparison, and keys to the win.