New Orleans Pelicans preview: Keys to a must-win game vs. Thunder

The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off of a four game road stretch and are now back home in front of Pelicans’ fans at the Smoothie King Center. They host the 3-6 Oklahoma City Thunder.

New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder last games

The Pelicans are on a seven game losing streak; the franchise record is 13 straight games. Pels lost to the Mavericks on Monday night, 108-92. Josh Hart and Jonas Valanciunas both had a team-high 22 points. JV also had 11 rebounds to keep his strong start going. Nickeil Alexander-Walker did put in 18 points but still shot the ball poorly. The bench scored 10 points, all from Jaxson Hayes. Devonte’ Graham had an off night playing 33 minutes and scoring eight points, but he did have 10 assists.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off of a 99-94 win over the Spurs on Sunday. Mike Muscala came off the bench and dropped 20 points, a team-high. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 14 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. The Thunder are a strong second-half team, scoring the majority of their points in the third and fourth quarters.

2021-2022 season

New Orleans and OKC play a total of three times this season. One game at home in the Smoothie King Center on Wednesday and two games in Oklahoma City on December 15th and 26th.

History

Both teams have played a total of 64 games and the Thunder have a 37-27 series advantage over the New Orleans Pelicans. In the most recent game played, the Pelicans won 109-95. Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram combined for 51 points. It is a great feeling having both of them on the court playing together, but we may not see it for a while, as Zion Williamson has no timetable to return and Ingram is questionable again tonight.

Keys to the game

Role-players will need to step up for the Pelicans to get the win. It can not be just Valanciunas and Graham playing well. It needs to be a team effort.

The bench needs to score! I can’t stress this enough. The bench on Monday played a total of 63 minutes and scored only 10 points, all of that coming from Jaxson Hayes.

Conditioning is important down the stretch. This is a quick Thunder team that will run the Pelicans out of the gym, but if the Pels are able to keep up they can get a win. The second half is going to be crucial because the Pelicans have struggled this season in the 4th quarter. This game will likely come down to the wire.

If the Pels are all clicking and in sync, they can snap this losing streak and finally get a win in front of the home crowd.