The Oklahoma City Thunder has an opportunity to start the season off with 7 straight wins—tied for a franchise record—for the second consecutive season when they host the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday afternoon. OKC is coming off two days off rest after a dominant 127-108 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
The Thunder hasn’t looked quite as sharp as one might hope for the reigning champs, but considering the shorter offseason, coupled with key injuries and the first 6 games played in just 10 days, coming away at 6-0 is a solid start. Another win should be in order on Sunday as New Orleans enters at 0-5, losing by an average of 15.6 points.
Despite the early woes for the Pelicans, they are fresh off a 2-point road loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, and they have plenty of talent to be competitive, so the Thunder cannot overlook them. It would be nice if OKC could take care of business early so guys can rest ahead of a 4-game road trip that starts on Tuesday in Los Angeles against the Clippers.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 2:30 PM CT
Location: Paycom Center (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
Television: FanDuel Sports Network 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: Cason Wallace
- SF: Aaron Wiggins
- PF: Jaylin Williams
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Pelicans
- PG: Jeremiah Fears
- SG: Herbert Jones
- SF: Trey Murphy III
- PF: Zion Williamson
- C: Yves Missi
Injury Report
Thunder
- Luguent Dort (illness) is OUT.
- Chet Holmgren (sprained lower back) is OUT.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Jalen Williams (right wrist surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Kenrich Williams (left knee surgical recovery) is OUT.
Pelicans
- Trey Alexander (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Hunter Dickinson (G League — two-way) is OUT.
- Kevon Looney (sprained left knee) is AVAILABLE.
- Dejounte Murray (ruptured right Achilles) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 39-21 against the Pelicans (19-10 at home, 19-11 on the road) in the regular season and 4-0 against them in the playoffs (2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won the season series with the Pelicans 11 times, tied it once, and lost it 4 times.
- Last season, the Thunder went 4-0 against the Pelicans in the regular season (2-0 at home, 2-0 on the road).
- The Thunder has won 10 straight games (2024 playoffs included) against the Pelicans.