Despite being a heavy favorite, the Oklahoma City Thunder just barely gutted out a tough 94-92 win in Game 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. The energy was electric at the Paycom Center, and perhaps the nervousness of the playoffs affected the youth of the Thunder, but when it all came down to it, the right guys made the right plays, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring the go-ahead basket with 32.1 seconds to go. Now OKC needs to maintain home court advantage with another win in Game 2.
The Thunder are favored again and for good reason. New Orleans remains without Zion Williamson, and while they are a gritty team with a lot of length, OKC has to figure out a way to put points on the board in an efficient manner. The Thunder shot about as poorly as they have all season on Sunday, and that’s largely due to the Pelicans and their swarming defense. Expect head coach Mark Daigneault to have some adjustments in mind, and if the Thunder can relax and get adjusted to the playoff atmosphere, they should be able to head to New Orleans for Game 3 with a 2-0 lead.
Tip-Off: 8:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: TNT
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: Chet Holmgren
Pelicans
- PG: CJ McCollum
- SG: Brandon Ingram
- SF: Trey Murphy III
- PF: Herbert Jones
- C: Jonas Valanciunas
Injury Report
Thunder
- NONE
Pelicans
- Zion Williamson is OUT (strained left hamstring).
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder are 34-21 against the Pelicans (17-10 at home, 17-11 on the road) in the regular season and 1-0 against them in the playoffs (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).
- The Thunder have won the season series with the Pelicans 10 times, tied it once, and lost it 4 times.
- The Thunder went 2-1 against the Pelicans last season in the regular season (1-1 at home, 1-0 on the road) and 1-0 in the play-in round of the postseason (1-0 on the road).
- The Thunder went 2-1 against the Pelicans this season (0-1 at home, 2-0 on the road).
- The Thunder are up 1-0 in Round 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).