Gameday Preview: OKC Thunder seek 4th win in a row hosting Davis-less Pelicans
By Alex Mcewen
The OKC Thunder desire to extend their win streak to four, but the Pelicans intend to leave the Peake with a much-needed victory, sans Anthony Davis.
After defeating the Trail Blazers 123-114 on Tuesday, the OKC Thunder became one of only eight remaining 19 or fewer loss teams. Oklahoma City’s win over the Blazers was one of their best of the season.
Considering the Blazers were on the second night of a back-to-back, coming off a narrow win in Utah and OKC was coming off a blowout win over the Knicks, both teams were in different circumstances. Therefore, I can not deem the win against Portland the best of the year.
The game offered several observations, including what Russell Westbrook did when the players came out for their pregame shootaround. Westbrook usually does not do a lot during this time, he shoots a few shots, gets stretched, and will do entertaining dances on the bench.
However, Tuesday evening Westbrook made the uncharacteristic decision to practice his free throws. The final pregame preparation paid dividends for the All-Star guard as he shot 10-12 at the line. Russ and Paul George combined to shoot 23-27 or 85.2 percent at the charity stripe.
For the first time this season, George received some much-deserved MVP chants inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. PG discussed the MVP chants on the Players Only postgame, in an interview with Dennis Smith.
Last, but not the least, Westbrook recorded his league-leading 14th triple-double of the season, he finished with 29 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds. The triple-double happened organically, within the flow of the game. Rather than artificially, such as the triple-double Russ avoided on MLK day when he did not check back in to record his ninth assist versus the Knicks.
Do not overlook New Orleans
Recently the Thunder have had the tendency to play down to their opponent. Despite playing on the second night of a back-to-back the Pelicans, even without Anthony Davis are capable of exiting the Peake with a victory.
The Pelicans smashed the Grizzlies 125-85 on MLK day improving their record without Davis to 2-4. AD remained sidelined due to an avulsion fracture of his left index finger. Although this will be the third meeting between the Thunder and Pelicans, this will mark the first time playmaker Elfrid Payton and sharpshooter Nikola Mirotic will both be in uniform for the Pels.