The second match for the OKC Thunder in Las Vegas featured the New Orleans Pelicans. Unfortunately, the club wasn’t able to post a second consecutive victory as they drew even on the Summer League standings.
After rolling his ankle in the first few minutes on the hardcourt of Game 1, OKC elected to rest point guard Josh Giddey who remains day-to-day. Not only is that disappointing for Thunder fans but it meant extra pressure was placed on Theo Maledon and the backcourt.
OKC fell behind early trailing 17-22 after the first frame but dug in defensively to hold the Pelicans to 13 points in the second quarter while scoring 18 points. That resulted in the clubs drawing even at 35 as they hit halftime.
Emulating the varsity roster, the Thunder summer squad struggled in the first and third quarters posting only 14 points in the third while giving up 22 points. Unlike their opening match, there would be no comeback in Game 2, as the Thunder registered only 16 points compared to 22 in the final frame. The Pelicans won the match by a final score was 65-80.
Aaron Wiggins leads OKC Thunder in loss to Pelicans
After leading the team in scoring and registering a double-double in Game 1, Maledon struggled in versus the Pels scoring five points on 2 of 11 from the field and 1 of 7 from deep. The sophomore added four rebounds, three assists, and a steal but Yet, also committed five turnovers.
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It was a rough shooting night for the entire club who posted 33.3 percent from the field, 24.1 percent from deep, and an abysmal 53.3 percent from the charity stripe. Tre Mann was the only starter to register double-digit scoring with 12 points. Mann filled up the box with six rebounds, seven assists, a steal, and a block.
Aaron Wiggins offered the top-scoring effort for his team with 16 points as he served notice on why the Thunder were keen to add him to the club. Similar to his teammate Mann, Wiggins filled the box sheet with five rebounds, two assists, two assists, two steals, and a block
Summer League is about development and through two games the biggest issue has been offense while the Thunder have performed much closer to their identity on the defensive end. OKC was better on the boards in this match and once again was active causing deflections and snaring steals (nine) while keeping their turnovers relatively low with 14.
Next up the OKC Thunder will hit the court Friday to play the Golden State Warriors who also split their two prior games.