OKC Thunder vs. Pelicans Dec. 1 replay: 3 keys in the match

Catch the OKC Thunder and Pelicans December 1 replay tonight. Tune in with these three keys to the victory.

As the NBA looks forward to a season restart Fox Sports Oklahoma is continuing its series of top OKC Thunder games this season. The game on tap this evening is the OKC Thunder versus the New Orleans Pelicans from December 1st.

This victory was the second in as many games against the Pelicans and came courtesy of back to back clutch time performances.

Among the bright spots that emerged in this outing was the team was cognizant of bad habits and made efforts to correct those areas. Specifically, the club jumped on the Pelicans early and made sure to bring the effort to start the third quarter.

Still, the OKC Thunder were ironing out the kinks and finding their identity as they neared the 20 game mark of the season.

As you get settled in your favorite chair to catch the replay here’s three things to keep an eye on.

Three keys to OKC Thunder win vs. Pelicans

Frontcourt dominance:

The starting frontcourt duo of Steven Adams and Danilo Gallinari each registered double-doubles in this match. Gallo put up an impressive 23 points and 11 rebounds while connecting on four of his seven 3-point attempts and added three assists. The big Kiwi filled up the stat sheet with 17 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocks.

Trio of point guard’s consistency:

This was the point in the season when the OKC Thunder began to gel as a team and their chemistry was clearly on display. In the match, each of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder scored in double digits with CP3 producing 16 points and the other two collecting 17 apiece.

They each brought something extra to the court with Paul dishing eight dimes, SGA coming up one rebound short of collecting a double-double and Schroder doing a little bit of everything including connecting on two of his five 3-point attempts.

Clutch Time Killers emerge:

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While the Thunder had won some games in the clutch this was the point in the season when the team became virtually unstoppable in this time frame.

Technically, the team’s clutch time prowess started around Thanksgiving but this game was a perfect example of the Killer lineup. Entering the final frame the Thunder held a five-point lead but coughed it up well before the halfway mark of the quarter.

As the final five minutes of the fourth arrived CP3 cut the Pelican’s five-point lead to three.  Typically it’s Paul who dominates in this crucial portion of the game and this game showcased his mastery.

What made this win different is Adams became the main target as the Thunder capitalized on the lack of bigs to guard him. Paul kept feeding the big man as he collected seven of his 17 points. Paul also scored seven points and Gallo was the only other Thunder player to score in the clutch.

For those interested in the stats and individual numbers check out our player grades that followed the December 1st victory.