OKC Thunder: 3 keys to victory vs New Orleans Pelicans

The OKC Thunder come into tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans losers of two straight games. There are 3 specific ways they can get back into the win column.

After starting off the season with a thrilling buzzer-beating victory over the Charlotte Hornets, the OKC Thunder have gone on to drop two straight and, now, boast an underwhelming record of 1-2.

As many expected coming in, 2020-21 seems to be a season heavily devoted to developing their young players and, in turn, setting their sights on the future.

Having said this, while they currently find themselves resting in the Western Conference’s 12th seed, this team still appears to be good enough to compete for a win on almost any given night.

Their game four opponent will be against Brandon Ingram and the New Orleans Pelicans. Should the Thunder wish to haul their two-game losing skid tonight, they’ll likely want to hone in on these three specific keys:

OKC Thunder key No. 1) Match NOLA’s intensity right off the bat

This key may seem a bit obvious, as every team should strive to match or, better yet, surpass their opposition’s intensity.

However, with the fact that New Orleans was embarrassingly smacked by the Phoenix Suns by 25 points in their last outing, this playoff-hopeful Pelicans team, led by old school/ no-nonsense head coach Stan Van Gundy, will likely come out of the gates tonight swinging for the fences.

Because of this, the OKC Thunder need to do everything in their power to try and match this expected roar right out of the gates, specifically on the defensive side of the ball as NOLA has unbelievably gifted offensive talents in All-Star Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson, and JJ Redick at their disposal.

Meeting them at the point of attack right off the bat will be a massive key in controlling things early on.