The regular season is all wrapped up, and the Oklahoma City Thunder far surpassed preseason expectations as they managed to win 40 games and sneak their way into the Play-In Tournament. OKC is as healthy as they can be at this point in the season as they travel to New Orleans to take on the Pelicans in the 9/10 game.
The Pelicans defeated the Thunder 3-1 in the regular season series, but pretty much every game was a tight one. New Orleans pulled out a win in the first three meetings, but all three games were decided by a total of 10 points, and one of those games was decided in overtime. In the final meeting of the season, the Thunder soundly defeated the Pelicans 110-96 in New Orleans, and OKC hopes to repeat that type of effort tonight.
The winner of this game will travel to Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves on Friday for a shot at the 8-seed and an opportunity to play the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs. Pretty much nobody expected OKC to be in the playoffs this season, particularly once Chet Holmgren broke a bone in his foot last summer, ending his opportunity at a rookie year.
Regardless of how tonight’s game ends, the facts are clear that the Oklahoma City Thunder has a very bright future that is likely to last for quite some time. At this point, Thunder fans should just sit back and enjoy the journey as OKC returns to the top of the league because it’s just a matter of a time before the Thunder arrives (and perhaps surpasses) to a place of former glory.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Television: ESPN
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: Jalen Williams
- C: Jaylin Williams
Pelicans
- PG: CJ McCollum
- SG: Trey Murphy
- SF: Brandon Ingram
- PF: Herbert Jones
- C: Jonas Valanciunas
Injury Report
Thunder
- Jared Butler is OUT (G League — two-way).
- Chet Holmgren is OUT (right foot surgery).
- Aleksej Pokusevski is OUT (left knee contusion).
- 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).
- E.J. Liddell is OUT (right knee ACL injury recovery).
- Larry Nance Jr. is QUESTIONABLE (left ankle soreness).
- Zion Williamson is OUT (strained right hamstring).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 32-20 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 1-3 against the Pelicans so far this season (0-2 at home, 1-1 on the road).