Gameday: The New Orleans Pelicans vs The Oklahoma City Thunder
By Joshua Lea
The New Orleans Pelicans have a good chance to get a win tonight in Oklahoma City. The Thunder are coming off a tough loss last night in Denver.
The New Orleans Pelicans are still adjusting to life without DeMarcus Cousins. They’re 0-2 without Cousin’s in the lineup and they’re about to play a tough back-to-back starting tonight in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder are a mere two games in front of New Orleans in the playoff race. They also have lost one of their core starters in Andre Roberson. Roberson ruptured his patellar tendon in his left knee and will miss the rest of the season. Roberson is the defensive anchor to the OKC Thunder team. Without him, OKC is 6-7 this season.
Roberson’s absence is nowhere close to the effect that Cousin’s is. However, OKC is still a different team without Roberson dropping two straight games this week. OKC still has their big three which will prove challenging against a short-handed New Orleans squad.
Key’s to victory tonight against OKC:
They’ll have to contain Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Paul George on the defensive side of the ball. The best plan of attack against the Thunder is to keep them out of the paint and dare them to shoot threes. Oklahoma City is shooting 35.3% from beyond the arc this season. If Carmelo is having a bad shooting night, it could mean a win for the Pels.
The Pelicans will also have to focus on rebounding the ball tonight against the Thunder. OKC averages 54 rebounds a game ranking them fourth in the NBA. OKC has a tough post presence with Steven Adams who is having a solid season. As a result, New Orleans will have to have a total team effort on rebounding.
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Also noteworthy, the Pelicans will be without Nikola Mirotic who has yet to join the team. He is expected to be available Saturday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Pelicans will likely have a small bench to work with tonight. This could lead to extra minutes for Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo and Darius Miller.
The matchup of Rondo and Westbrook could be entertaining. Rondo is known for his defense and Westbrook is known for his instant offense. At times, Westbrook goes into a mode I like to call “Kobe mode” where he takes over the game. This can have both a positive and negative impact depending if Westbrook’s shot is working.
Prediction and final score:
Oklahoma City is coming off a hard-fought loss against the Denver Nuggets last night 127-124. This game was a late tip due to the game being featured on TNT. Tonight, the Pelicans and Thunder will tip just 22 and a half hours after the opening tip of the Thunder’s game against the Nuggets. Also, the Pelicans will have a short roster due to the trade with Chicago. You can expect for fatigue to be a factor in tonight’s game for both teams.
Next: The latest on Nikola Mirotic in New Orleans
The Pelicans have a good chance to win tonight if they follow the keys and make shots. Anthony Davis needs to have a monster game as well. I give the Pelicans the edge 108-102 over the Thunder.