OKC Thunder get routed by Pelicans in Steven Adams return – Grades

Best OKC Thunder reserve performance:

With honorable mentions to both Mike Muscala for his offensive game and Pokusevski for his passing game, the nod goes to the French rookie, Theo Maledon.

Maledon did most of his work in the first half where he collected six points, five rebounds, and two assists. He even had the heads up play to foul Josh Hart at the end of the second as he was going up for the easy dunk. He decided that Hart needed to work for the points.

Struggled again from deep going 2-of-7 but only Al Horford and Mike Muscala were able to get into double figures meaning Maledon was not the only one. Showed again that he could find the smallest gaps and get the ball to a teammate.

Best opponent performance:

The best screen-setter in the entire league, Adams got his teammates open again and again. Thunder players were caught up on his body almost every time. If you give an NBA player a foot of space, they will hurt you. Adams’ screens gave his players ample space and they used it well.

On top of that Adams had 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting and collected 10 rebounds for the double-double. As per the style of Adams, he had six of his rebounds on the offensive end. His last play of the game saw him on the floor competing for a ball when the game was truly done.

In closing:

The Pelicans exposed the weaknesses in the Thunder roster during this game. They shut down Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder did not have the artillery to respond, hence the blowout loss. Coach Mark Daignault took the opportunity to give the younger guys extended minutes including both two-way players.