New Orleans Pelicans Preview: Maintaining momentum at home against Oklahoma City Thunder

Dec 21, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) dances as New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) walks away during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Thunder defeated the Pelicans 121-110. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans (18-27) look to maintain momentum as they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (26-19) at home on Wednesday night.

What goes into a win? I’d argue that more than “identity”, finding the answer to that question has been the primary problem afflicting the New Orleans Pelicans this season. No victory has been all that similar, outside of those performances in which Anthony Davis’s magnificence is enough. Tonight against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pelicans will need to find what works early, and stick with it.

You may have heard about the results of Monday night’s game– the Pelicans took down the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers, without their superstar. It took Jrue Holiday and Terrence Jones playing like superstars to get that done, but it happened. There is proof.

Such wins are exactly the kind needed to build momentum toward a playoff bid. The Pelicans are secretly a .500 team at home, so it’s important that this tough stretch is at home. They already found their way into one victory; it’s not too hard to imagine they could get another.

The Thunder force teams to play their way– quick pace, bruising bigs, and a shellacking by Russell Westbrook. But the Pelicans are already halfway there, actually playing a faster pace than Westbrook’s Thunder. What they’ll need is a good performance by their frontcourt.

In the last game between these two teams, Terrence Jones came off the bench to deliver 21 points on 17 shots, but only found two rebounds. There was no Donatas Motiejunas yet, so Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca combined for 14 minutes to fill out the frontcourt rotation. Tonight, against Steven Adams and Enes Kanter, one of the big men on this team is going to have to outperform their season-long trends, especially in the rebounding category.

Considering that that’s what we’ve been looking for all season long, the odds it happens tonight – against a tough opponent – are low.

Who, When, Where and How to Watch

When and Where: The game will be played at 7:00 p.m. CT in New Orleans.

How To Watch: The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports New Orleans and NBA League Pass.

Injuries:

New Orleans: Anthony Davis (Quad) is probable. Tyreke Evans (Left Ankle Sprain) is questionable. Quincy Pondexter (Knee) is out.

Oklahoma City: None (!)

Probable Starting Lineups:

New Orleans: PG Jrue Holiday, SG Buddy Hield, SF Solomon Hill, PF Dante Cunningham, C Anthony Davis

Oklahoma City: PG Russell Westbrook, SG Victor Oladipo, SF Andre Roberson, PF Domantas Sabonis, C Steven Adams

Other Players to Watch:

New Orleans: E’Twaun Moore, Tyreke Evans, Terrence Jones, Donatas Motiejunas and Langston Galloway

Oklahoma City: Enes Kanter, Jerami Grant, Cameron Payne, Alex Abrines, Joffrey Lauvergne

What’s Next for the Pelicans?

The New Orleans Pelicans face the wizened San Antonio Spurs at home on Friday night after a day of rest tomorrow. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. CT, as always.

Dec 21, 2016; New Orleans, LA, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) passes as New Orleans Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday (11) and forward Terrence Jones (9) and guard Buddy Hield (24) defend during the first quarter of a game at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Supporting casts decide games between two dominant players

The New Orleans Pelicans struggle with teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder, there is no doubt about this. They have lost twice to this team; by nine on the road and by eleven in Oklahoma. It’s difficult to contextualize these struggles other than to say simply that the Thunder are a better team than the Pelicans, by far.

Oklahoma City has a +0.8 point differential per game on the season, compared to New Orleans’ -2.8 mark. Over the full season, the Thunder sit at +35 compared to -125 for the Pelicans.

What is most troubling about these teams’ recent matchups, though, is the way that each team’s star helps their team. For Oklahoma City, that means Russell Westbrook doing just about everything on the court for his team. For New Orleans, it’s meant spending the entire season learning how far Anthony Davis is capable of being bent before he breaks. Watching Westbrook over the years, it was obvious he could be the sole alpha dog on a team. Davis’s ascent toward both-ways dominance has been spotty, and without help.

When these teams play, the glaring differences in team-building are on full display. Westbrook becoming the top dog for the Thunder has been a matter of ticking up counting stats and shouldering the weight of an entire offense– he leaves defense and shooting to his teammates, for the most part. Davis, on the other hand, is asked to do a lot of everything; if he wasn’t leading the team in points, rebounds, blocks, and advanced defensive metrics, they’d be nowhere near as effective.

So when the Thunder have Enes Kanter picking up slack on the second unit to the tune of 14 points and 13 rebounds in these teams’ last matchup, it’s painful to see. In two losses, Anthony Davis has averaged 35.5 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He has taken 58 shots from the field, and 18 from the free-throw line. And it has not been enough.

The rest of the roster’s ability to fill in the gaps will be the key to the Pelicans winning this game.