The OKC Thunder lost a close 114-118 contest to the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. Here are three takeaways.
Wednesday night’s game between the OKC Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans was disappointing, to say the least. They entered the game clear favorites, especially with New Orleans down two key players in Nikola Mirotic and Elfrid Payton, but never quite found their rhythm. Russell Westbrook, OKC’s most important player, started out the game rough, picking up five turnovers through just the first quarter and a half.
Thankfully for the Thunder, Paul George, Steven Adams, and Dennis Schroder came through and kept the Thunder within eight points for most of the game. They also somehow managed to weather an incredible 44 point, 18 rebound performance from Anthony Davis.
The Superstar big man was absolutely spectacular most of the night, digging into a deep reservoir of offensive moves that bamboozled anyone OKC threw at him. However, it was the contributions of Jrue Holiday and Julius Randle who really kept the Pels afloat. The pair combined for 42 points and provided the necessary support in the absence of three starters.
As always with disappointing games like this one, there were a lot of things to learn from Wednesday night. Here are the three most important.