OKC Thunder begin week nine facing the Pelicans

Key Stats:

With the disappointing news of not having Zion Williamson coming back any time soon, new head coach Willie Green has to refocus the rest of his charges to push ahead.

In the big three categories, the Pelicans have made slight shifts since the November 10th match. They’ve improved one spot offensively ranking 26th (105.8),  have climbed three spots defensively to 26th (111.6), and decreased their net differential from -11.1 to -5.8 which ranks 27th

The OKC Thunder suffered some drops in the past week now ranking 30th offensively (99.7), 19th defensively ( 109.4), and 28th in net differential (-9.7).

Scoring:

The Pelicans score 103.7 per game ranking 27th overall and allow opponents to score 109.9 which ranks 24th.

The Thunder ranks 30th in scoring per game with 98.5 points and allows opponents to score 108.2  points per game ranking 18th.

Rebounding:

New Orleans is one of the top rebounding teams grabbing 46.3 total boards and 12.3 offensive boards per game. They rank sixth for total rebounds and fourth on the offensive glass.

OKC remains in the top 10 averaging 45.6 total rebounds which ranks ninth but their 9.9 offensive boards rank in a tie for 21st.

Dime dishers:

Playmaking is also a strong suit for the Pelicans who dish 24.3 assists per contest ranking 11th while the Thunder struggles to dish dimes averaging only 20.2 per game which ranks dead last.

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 27th.

The Pelicans allow opponents to shoot 36.8 percent from the perimeter which ranks 27th.

Turnovers:

With 15.1 turnovers per match, the Pelicans rank 23rd in this category compared to the OKC Thunder 14.1 miscues per game, tying two others as the 15th most.

Miscellaneous Categories:

With their length, the Pelicans perform well on second-chance scoring. They perform fairly well in the offensive miscellaneous categories performing in the top half of the association for fast break paint scoring.

• Points scored off turnovers- rank 19th scoring 15.4 points per game
• Second-chance scoring – 14.4 points per game ranking in a tie for seventh-best.
• Fast break scoring – rank 12th scoring 13 points per game
• Points in the paint – rank 12th scoring 45.5 points per match

Defensively, the best miscellaneous category for New Orleans is second-chance scoring. Credit Jonas Valanciunas who feasts on the glass and doesn’t allow many offensive rebounds to land in opponent’s hands.

• Points scored off turnovers- rank 22nd allowing opponents to score 17.3 points per game
• Second-chance scoring – rank fourth allowing only 11.7 second-chance points per game
• Fast break scoring – rank 16th allowing opponents to score 12 points per game
• Points in the paint – rank 15th allowing opponents to score 46.1 points

*NOTE: These statistics were pulled on December 15th from NBA Stats.