After ending their season-long losing streak the OKC Thunder took stock and got back to the important matters at hand — losing. While that may sound terrible the reality is this is what the team needs to do in order to improve their draft position.
That said, the other key principle to close the season will be player development and trying not to get blown out in every game as that can take a toll on the player’s psyche.
In their first game on the court since defeating the Celtics, the Thunder were competitive but fell to the New Orleans Pelicans. The latter still has visions of making the play-in tournament so keeping the game relatively close was a win for the Thunder.
While the OKC Thunder kept things interesting early a 19-3 run by the Pelicans gave them a 17 point lead to carry into the half. The Thunder were able to cut into that lead narrowing it to 11 as the teams entered the final frame but unable to go on any long runs to erase New Orleans lead.
A few new faces were in action on Thursday. Most notably Gabriel Deck made his debut with the team. The Argentinian didn’t have a big impact although he summoned memories of his national teammate Manu Ginobili with a nifty behind-the-back pass. To that end, Manu took to Twitter to comment on that behind-the-back pass…
Ahora una linda fajita! Qué contento estoy! pic.twitter.com/1MeG6XtL4w
— Manu Ginobili (@manuginobili) April 30, 2021
The translation of what Ginobili said is ” Now a nice fajita! I am so happy!”
Deck will need time to get acquainted with his new teammates and learn the system. In his debut, he played 15 minutes with “two” being the key number as his points, assists, and rebounds were all twos.
It was the second time Steven Adams has been back at Chesapeake Arena since being traded to the Pelicans but he was out with a sore toe. Once fans return (hopefully next season) it’s likely he’ll get a rousing ovation from the Thunder faithful.
As Intentions noted in our preview an interesting listen for Adams fans was his guest appearance on former Pelicans teammate J.J. Redick’s podcast. The Big Kiwi talks about his time (and love for) in OKC.
With that, let’s dive into the player grades from the loss to the Pelicans.