After a busy four-game week the OKC Thunder will play only two matches this week with the first occurring tonight versus the New Orleans Pelicans.
The second will take place Saturday when the Thunder finishes the four-game homestand hosting the LA Clippers.
Last week was a mixed bag of highs and lows. After the debacle of the 73 point differential loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and rookie Josh Giddey returned to the hardwood to lead the Thunder to consecutive wins versus the Pelicans and Raptors.
Those matches were followed by back-to-back losses versus the Lakers and Mavericks. It was expected LeBron James wasn’t about to let his squad lose three games in a row to the Thunder. But, the loss to the Luka Doncic-less Mavericks was a bit tough to digest.
Keeping in mind the Thunder is tanking fans like the players have to remember not to get too high or too low about losses.
OKC Thunder begin week nine facing the Pelicans
Today also marks an important date for the NBA as players who were traded this offseason are now eligible to be dealt. That opens up numerous options for teams and more specifically in situations like the impasse in Philly with Ben Simmons.
While the Thunder aren’t looking to upgrade the roster for a playoff run they could be used as a third team to help expedite a trade. Or Sam Presti might hear of a young asset he’d be keen to add to the future core.
Conversely, the Pelicans may well be active because they’re desirous of playing in the post-season. Granted, the news Zion Williamson suffered another setback in his recovery could change the dynamics for New Orleans.
GM David Griffin has an interesting path to navigate. On one hand, they need to show Williamson they are improving the Pelicans. However, with the young star now missing more games than he’s played you have to wonder if the front office is keen to add players to build around Zion when he’s yet to prove he can stay healthy for an entire campaign.
Recalling the year of Kevin Durant’s draft let’s not forget the player selected ahead of him was Greg Oden. Similar to Williamson, Oden struggled to stay on the hardwood. Sure, his situation and injuries were much worse, but it’s a cautionary tale of how big men can suffer and have a harder time getting healthy.
One way or another the Pelicans are bound to be involved in deals between now and the trade deadline. The question is will they pursue adding talent or breaking up the band?
For now, we focus on the match tonight between the Pelicans and the Thunder.
Key matchup:
The 2019 Most Improved Player, Brandon Ingram may not be considered the star of the Pelicans but he’s been healthier and consistently provided top marks on his team.
Ingram leads the Pelicans in scoring with 22.9 points per contest and averages 6.2 rebounds, and 4.9 assists. He’s shooting 44.7 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from the perimeter.
While Ingram is the primary scorer center Jonas Valanciunas can’t be ignored. He’s tied with Domantas Sabonis for the league-leading 22 double-doubles this season. In fact, he’s averaging a double-double of 18.7 points and 11.9 rebounds (3.5 offensive boards), plus 2.5 assists.
JV is shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 45.7 percent from the perimeter although he only attempts 2.4 deep balls per game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s cousin Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the main player off the bench and registers the third-most points for the Pelicans with 13.7 per game and adds 3.9 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest.
While this wasn’t a big draft year for the Pelicans Herb Jones is a player worth keeping track of given his strong defensive skills. Another intriguing player who could draw interest at the trade deadline depending on what direction the Pelicans decide to take to complete this season.
Hart like Kenrich Williams is a support player who checks off a lot of boxes and operates as a glue guy for 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.
Injuries and projected starting lineups:
Pelicans projected starting lineup:
Based on the myriad of injuries and uncertainty about some players availability the starting rotation could emulate their last game versus the Mavericks:
- Devonte Graham- point guard
- Josh Hart – shooting guard
- Herb Jones – small forward
- Brandon Ingram- power forward
- Jonas Valanciunas- center’
Pelicans injuries:
- Zion Williamson – imaging showed the broken bone in his foot is not healing as expected so his on-court rehab has been walked back and he won’t do any group contact drills. His return date is once again in flux.
- Kira Lewis Jr. suffered a torn ACL as well as a grade two MCL sprain ending his season.
- Daulton Hommes (fibula) is out indefinitely.
- Didi Louzada Silva continues to serve a 25-game suspension for PED usage.
OKC Thunder injuries:
- Luguentz Dort suffered a leg injury in the Mavericks match when he fell oddly getting entangled with Kristaps Porzingis and won’t play on Wednesday.
History:
The history of meetings in the regular season between these teams has the OKC Thunder holding a 38 win advantage of the 65 occasions they’ve played.
The squads met once prior this season in New Orleans on November 10th with the Thunder besting the Pelicans 108-100.
The teams will meet once more after tonight’s match on Boxing Day also in Oklahoma City. In 2020-21 the Pelicans won the season series two games to one.
Game Specifics:
Venue: Paycom Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Tip-off: at 7:00 p.m. Central Time (8:00 p.m. EST)
Where to watch: Bally Sports Oklahoma or NBA League Pass
Radio: WWLS 98.1 FM