The Oklahoma City Thunder has a Saturday night showdown in New Orleans agains the Pelicans, and the Thunder could use a win after the thrashing they received in Phoenix on Wednesday night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be playing after a night off on Wednesday, and Brandon Ingram is questionable for the Pelicans with a sprained ankle. This is the first game of a back-to-back for OKC, and a win would go a long way concerning playoff odds.
Currently, the Thunder is 12th in the Western Conference with a 31-35 record. The Pelicans are sitting at 10th at 32-34 on the season. This particular matchup would be a huge swing in the standings this late in the season, and OKC needs every win they can get at this point considering that just 3.5 game separate 6th-13th place.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7:30 PM CT
Location: Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, Pelicans)
Television: Bally Sports Oklahoma
Radio: WWLS 98.1FM OKC The Sports Animal
Twitter: Follow @ZacharyLowNBA for live tweets and discussion during the game
Game Notes: Oklahoma City Thunder Official Game Notes, New Orleans Pelicans Official Game Notes
Projected Starters
Thunder
- PG: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- SG: Josh Giddey
- SF: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Jaylen Williams
- C: Jaylin Williams
Pelicans
- PG: Trey Murphy III
- SG: Brandon Ingram
- SF: CJ McCollum
- PF: Herbert Jones
- C: Jonas Valanciunas
Injury Report
Thunder
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (left tibial plateau; non-displaced fracture).
- Olivier Sarr is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Kenrich Williams is OUT (scapholunate ligament surgery in left wrist).
Pelicans
- Jose Alvarado is OUT (right tibial stress reaction).
- Brandon Ingram is QUESTIONABLE (sprained right ankle).
- E.J. Liddell is OUT (right knee ACL injury recovery).
- Larry Nance Jr. is OUT (sprained left ankle).
- Dereon Seabron is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Zion Williamson is OUT (strained right hamstring).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 31-20 against the Pelicans (17-9 at home, 14-11 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the season series with the Pelicans 9 times, tied it once, and lost it 4 times.
- The Thunder went 2-1 against the Pelicans last season (1-1 at home, 1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder is 0-3 against the Pelicans so far this season (0-2 at home, 0-1 on the road).