Gameday Preview: OKC Thunder seek 4th win in a row hosting Davis-less Pelicans

Watch out for Three-kola Mirotic

On the season Nikola Mirotic is connecting on 36.4 percent of his treys. Since his return from an ankle injury on January 9, the fourth-year forward is shooting 43.2 percent on shots from beyond the arc. Either way, its viewed Mirotic is a legit threat from the outside.

Mirotic has helped boost the Pelicans overall 3-point shooting upon his early January return, the Pelicans have been shooting 36.7 percent from distance. Up from their season-long average of 35.8 percent.

However, using the January 9 time span, the Thunder are shooting 41.9 percent from deep. Before getting excited about the high percentage Thunder Nation, let’s see how long the hot shooting lasts. Seven games is not a large enough sample size to assess whether the improved accuracy is legit or simply an illusion.

Give me a pass Julius

Long before it was a fast food icon, the Orange Julius acquired its name from creator Julius Freed. His frosty and creamy orange drink did not yet possess a name, therefore when customers ordered the drink they would exclaim Give me an Orange Julius, thus the name was born.

Pelicans forward/center Julius Randle could find himself in a similar situation to Freed. Instead of customers asking, Randle has teammates asking for assists. Among centers, Randle is tied for 10th in assists with Minnesota superstar Karl-Anthony Towns at 3.0 per game.

Randle is more than a one trick pony he is a decent scorer as well. He is one of six centers and one of 11 forwards to average 20-plus points per game at 20.7. The Thunder have witnessed Randle’s versatility first hand this season.

In two contests, Randle is averaging 24.0 points per game on 73.1 percent shooting from the floor including 50.0 percent accuracy from the perimeter. While also chipping in 10.0 rebounds per game and dishing 2.0 assists. When Randle is on the hardwood the Pels are plus-17, when he goes to the bench New Orleans is minus-19, both marks are the best and worst among all Pelicans.

*Randle’s above stats are only against Oklahoma City.

Much is discussed regarding how valuable the Lakers young assets are however it appears they could have let their most valuable young asset walk for nothing.