Thunder Gameday: OKC Heads to New Orleans in Western Conference Battle
Both teams are prepared to be threats in the Western Conference playoffs, with this game potentially serving as a series preview.
The Oklahoma City Thunder can only go up from here.
The worst loss of its entire season came at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday night, collapsing in the second half and scoring below 100 points for the first time since Oct. 29. Every game matters in the race for the coveted No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, with the loss resulting in the Thunder dropping to the No. 2 spot.
Standing in the way of Oklahoma City gaining back its position and the 50-win mark is the New Orleans Pelicans, another formidable opponent.
While its star small forward, Brandon Ingram, is out for the next couple of weeks due to a knee injury, Zion Williamson still takes the reins as its dominant scorer down low. He’s averaging roughly 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, all while vastly avoiding injuries that have plagued his career to this point.
Although the Thunder would like to escape The Big Easy with a win, the Pelicans will have plenty of juice to prevent that from happening.
ODDS:
The Thunder enter the day as 1.5-point favorites over the Pelicans, and the total over/under is 226.5 points.
KEYS TO THE GAME:
Oklahoma City has only seen New Orleans on two other occasions this season, splitting both games one win a piece.
The loss for the Thunder came at the beginning of the season, where CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson combined for a dominant 49 points. The win came back in January, but that time the Pelicans were without Williamson. Neither game is really telling of where either team is at now, but with the absence of Ingram, neither can tonight really be either.
Both teams rank in the top 10 of the league in offensive and defensive rating, and are two of the best 3-point shooting teams. New Orleans has plenty of options to space the floor for
Williamson — such as McCollum and Herbert Jones – similarly to how Oklahoma City operates its lineup around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Williamson is a bulldozer in the paint, so the matchup between him and Chet Holmgren will be one to take note of. Giannis Antetokounmpo shares a similar ability to get to the basket as Williamson, which caused lots of problems for the rookie Sunday night. Unless he can handle the matchup better, Williamson’s dominance alone could prevent the Thunder from coming out on top.
RECORDS:
Oklahoma City Thunder (49-21) at New Orleans Pelicans (44-27)
INJURIES:
Check out our live injury tracker, along with our game day injury report that will release later today.
WHEN:
Tuesday, March 26, at 7 p.m. CT
LOCATION:
Smoothie King Center - New Orleans, LA
TV/Radio:
NBA League Pass, 98.1 FM The Sports Animal
Live Stream: fuboTV (Start Your Free Trial)
FINAL WORD:
Tuesday night could be a playoff preview if both teams can make their way out of the first round, and they’d equally like to come out with a win as seeding gets crucially more important.
Oklahoma City will return home to meet the Houston Rockets for the last time of the season on Wednesday, March 27 at 7 p.m. CT.
Want to join the discussion? Like Inside the Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
