OKC Thunder face 1-10 Pelicans club – preview

Key Stats:

New head coach Willie Green has a tall task without Zion Williamson but being hit by so many injuries early has made his job even more difficult.

In the big three categories, the Pelicans rank 27th offensively (101.6), 29th defensively (112.7), and 29th in net differential (-11.1).

In comparison, the OKC Thunder ranks 29th offensively (98.0), 20th defensively ( 107.1), and 28th in net differential (-9.1).

Scoring:

The Pelicans score 100.5 per game ranking in a tie for 27th overall and allow opponents to score 112.3 which ranks 27th.

The Thunder ranks 29th in scoring per game with 98.1 points and allows opponents to score 107.4  points per game ranking 16th.

Rebounding:

One bright spot for the Pels is the glass, where they pull down 46.1 rebounds per game ranking 12th overall. Offensively, the Pelicans pull down 11.9  boards which is the fourth-best ranking. Jonas Valanciunas is a big reason for New Orleans’ strength in this area averaging 13.9 boards of which 3.8 are on the offensive glass.

OKC ranks eighth averaging 46.4 boards per match ranking seventh and 9.8 offensive boards per match which rank 19th.

Dime dishers:

As for playmaking, the Pels deliver 23.2 assists per match ranking 14th overall while the Thunder dish 20 assists which ranks 29th.

Perimeter:

Like many of the teams, through the early portion of the season, the Pelicans aren’t shooting well from the perimeter (32.1 percent) ranking 25th.  The Thunder ranks 28th shooting 30.1 percent from deep.

Scoring by quarter:

The Pelicans’ best scoring quarter is the first and the worst is the second. OKC is similar with their worst scoring quarter being the first where they rank 30th in scoring while the second is their best. Given the Pelicans’ struggle in the second, there is leeway for OKC to build a big lead before the half if both teams play to their identity.

Turnovers:

A weakness for the Pelicans is their tendency to turn over the ball at a high rate (16.7
per game) which ranks 27th in the association.

Miscellaneous Categories:

The only category of the four miscellaneous statistics where the Pelicans rank in the top ten is fast break scoring where they rank ninth scoring 14.3 points per game.

Conversely, on the defensive side of the court, the Pelicans rank in the bottom ten for three of the four miscellaneous categories.

• Points scored off turnovers- rank 25th allowing opponents to score 19.5 points per game
• Fast break scoring – rank 29th allowing opponents to score 17 points per game
• Points in the paint – rank 20th allowing opponents to score 47.2 points

The lone positive miscellaneous defensive category for New Orleans is opponent second chance scoring where they rank seventh limiting teams to 11.6 points.

As Intentions has previously cited in previews the Thunder excels in limiting opponents scoring on the fast break (third – 9.6 points) and in the paint (8th – 42.5).

*NOTE: rankings were added at the time of writing from NBA Stats and may shift after games played Tuesday.