OKC Thunder: 3 keys to victory in rematch vs New Orleans Pelicans
The OKC Thunder face the New Orleans Pelicans for the second time this season with three specific keys required to avenge their worst loss to date.
In the third week of the season, the OKC Thunder are on track to accomplish their season goals. The team is showcasing its youthful talent who are gaining invaluable experience as the featured core.
Despite the main goal (shh 🤫 we’re tanking), the team plays a fun brand of basketball and has surprised many analysts by how competitive they’ve been. Defensively, the Thunder are in the middle tier while offensively they are among the worst. Part of the reason for this is depth but also a shift to playing positionless ball and getting used to the new style and schemes.
It’s important to remember players want to win and while they may be okay with the re-build no one in that Thunder locker room is willing to get blown out on a nightly basis. As such, pride will kick in particularly against teams who’ve bested the team.
To that end, through the early season, the Thunder has been in virtually every match but the New Year’s Eve game against the Pelicans, a 113 -80 oust. Sure, the Heat triumphed in a rout as well but OKC was arguably more competitive in that match and Mark Daigneault didn’t play his starters the final 17 minutes.
In this second meeting against the Pelicans, the Thunder will want to send a message they aren’t the West’s whipping squad, and while they may not win as much as they lose facing OKC won’t mean an automatic win. That’s an important caveat for the young Thunder players because if the team loses their edge or competitive desire it can have negative and long-lasting effects.
OKC Thunder key No. 1) Bring the Windex!
Stan Van Gundy has the Pelicans focused on improving defensively with rebounding a major focus of his system.
In the New Year’s Eve game, a key to the Pelicans’ victory was winning the battle of the boards. And they won by a significant margin of 65-49 including a 14 to 7 edge on the offensive glass.
This accomplished several factors for the Pels. It contributed to winning the second chance scoring advantage. By no coincidence, the Pelicans rank fourth (14.9) for second-chance scoring and fifth for second-chance points allowed (10.4). Comparatively, the Thunder ranks 28th (9.7) offensive and tied for third (10.3) for opponent scoring.
By winning the glass the Pelicans can get out in transition for easy scores. The more fluid their offense the easier it was for them to get back quickly to build the wall to block the paint.
Conversely, it limits OKC fast-break scoring opportunities (although they did win that edge 10 to 5). Given the Thunder length, they should be able to compete on the glass and reverse the advantage of setting up on defense.
The other key area affected was paint scoring which the Pelicans won 54 to 30. Which is the perfect segue into our next key.