The Oklahoma City Thunder moved to 13-1 on the season on Saturday night in Charlotte against the Hornets, thanks to another big third quarter, and now they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night. This is the second meeting between these teams so far this season, the last one a 139-107 victory for the Thunder back in OKC.
Chet Holmgren missed that first game due to injury, but now it is the Pelicans who are missing a key big man in Zion Williamson due to a strained hamstring. New Orleans is also dealing with the recent firing of their head coach, Willie Green, as they are off to an abysmal 2-11 start to the season.
OKC has yet to play with All-Star Jalen Williams, but they have fared just fine without him so far. His return is on the horizon, but in the meantime, the next man up mentality has stayed true for the Thunder, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the sixth man or the 12th man; it feels like just about anybody on this roster can enter the game and make an impact.
The Thunder are in the middle of an easier spot in their schedule, and they are taking advantage of it with a league-leading +15.4-point differential through 14 games played. Don’t be surprised if that number grows by the end of this game. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hasn’t been needed in the fourth quarter on 8 separate occasions, and it’s possible that could happen again in this one.
Game Details
Tip-Off: 7 PM CT
Location: Smoothie King Center (New Orleans, Louisiana)
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: Luguentz Dort
- PF: Chet Holmgren
- C: Isaiah Hartenstein
Pelicans
- PG: Jeremiah Fears
- SG: Saddiq Bey
- SF: Herbert Jones
- PF: Trey Murphy III
- C: Derik Queen
Injury Report
Thunder
- Alex Caruso (right hand soreness) is QUESTIONABLE.
- Thomas Sorber (right ACL surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Nikola Topic (surgical recovery) is OUT.
- Aaron Wiggins (strained left adductor) 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.
- Dejounte Murray (ruptured Right Achilles) is OUT.
- Jordan Poole (strained left quad) is OUT.
- Zion Williams (strained left hamstring) is OUT.
Head-to-Head
- Since arriving in Oklahoma City in 2008, the Thunder is 40-21 against the Pelicans (20-10 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 11 straight games (2024 playoffs included) against the Pelicans and 7 straight (2024 playoffs included) at the Smoothie King Center.
- The Thunder is 1-0 against the Pelicans so far this season (1-0 at home, 0-0 on the road).