Today, the New Orleans Pelicans will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder. This game is probably the most important game of the season for both teams.
The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off a tough loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night 107-102. After a crazy weekend in the NBA, the New Orleans Pelicans are in the eighth and final playoff spot. The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the sixth spot after losing to the Denver Nuggets on Friday 126-125 in overtime.
Both teams haven’t played well this week against some strong competition. OKC lost to Portland on March 25 and is looking to avoid losing their fourth in-a-row today against the Pelicans.OKC’s superstar tandem of Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Paul George have struggled mightily in different aspects of their games this week.
There also might be an internal issue with Carmelo Anthony. Anthony sat the entire fourth quarter during Friday’s game against the Denver Nuggets. The spin is that Jerami Grant was playing well for the Thunder during that fourth quarter and Melo didn’t want to disrupt the team’s rhythm up.
Now, this could be the truth. Or maybe head coach Billy Donovan decided to roll with the hot hand. However, this is the most non-Melo thing ever.
OKC is also having some late-season struggles
Nevertheless, the Oklahoma City Thunder are a team that has two different offensive styles that can be easy to defend. One is the isolation-heavy offense with Melo and George taking mid-range jumpers and or three-point shots.
The other is Russell Westbrook taking the game over. Which can be good for the Thunder. If Westbrook is in attack mode and attacking the rim, it’s going to be a long night for the New Orleans Pelicans.
If Westbrook is taking pull-up three’s with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. It’s going to be a good night for the New Orleans Pelicans.
OKC has lived and died by the three-point shot all season shooting just 35%. If their three-ball is going in, they are tough to beat. On the other hand, if it’s not. They are pretty easy to defeat. Plus, OKC struggles to make their free-throws, they’re shooting just 71% this season. So, if all else fails, put them on the line late.
The one bright spot for OKC is Steven Adams. Adams has been a monster on the floor for OKC. He owns the most box-outs in the NBA. He’s scoring a career-high 14.1 points a game and grabbing nine rebounds in the process.
Adams and Westbrook utilize the pick-and-roll like John Stockon and Karl Malone used to. Emeka Okafor has faced his fair share of bigs this season. However, none are like Steven Adams, the Pelicans must frustrate him early and keep him out of the game.
The New Orleans Pelicans are tied with Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Minnesota, and Utah with 33 losses. Minnesota is hosting Utah tonight and San Antonio is hosting Houston tonight. The Pelicans must win this game.
Next: Could the Pelicans face the Spurs in the first-round
Think of it as when Harry Potter had to get Professor Slughorn to confess his altered memory of Tom Riddle to Harry. A Pelicans win could very well be the determining factor of whether or not they make the playoffs.