On Wednesday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder will travel to New Orleans to take on the Pelicans. The Thunder are 17-8 and are in first place in the Western Conference, surprisingly. The Pelicans are 14-15 and are in 11th place in the left and need to get things going to make themselves a playoff caliber team.
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Thunder Try to Keep Momentum Going
The Thunder are coming off a 122-113 victory against the Jazz on Monday night and are 7-3 in their last 10 games. In that game, the Thunder saw 5 players score in double figures. Paul George led the way with 31 points on just 8 of 10 shooting. Dennis Schroder was the next highest scoring player, pouring in 23 points off the bench to go along with 6 assists. Steven Adams added 22 points and Jerami Grant added 13. Russell Westbrook had a quiet night scoring the ball but did manage to put together a triple double, scoring 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Pelicans are coming off a 113-100 loss to the Celtics on Monday night and are 4-6 in their last 10. There were only two players that could get anything going in this game. Anthony Davis poured in 41 points and 7 rebounds but went 50% from the field, going 17 for 34 on field goal attempts. Julius Randle was the only other Pelican in double figures, scoring 20 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Randle has been spectacular in the starting lineup after Mirotic missed a couple games due to an injury.
George, Westbrook Drive the Thunder
Even though Carmelo Anthony did not pan out how the Thunder had hoped, they have been superb so far this season without him. Four of the starters for OKC have been putting up tremendous numbers and have gotten little production from their bench other than Dennis Schroder, who has averaged 16.8 points a game, mostly off the bench. Paul George has led the way in the scoring column, averaging 24.3 points a game. Westbrook has been his usual self, averaging a triple double with 22.1 PPG, 10.2 assists per game, and 10.6 rebounds per game. Adams has averaged 15.4 a game and Grant averages 11.7 PPG.
The Pelicans offense has run through Anthony Davis this season, as expected. Davis is averaging 27.4 points per game as well as 12.2 rebounds a game. Point guard Jrue Holiday has been putting together a solid season, averaging 20.5 points a game and 8.8 assists a game. E’Twuan Moore has added 14 PPG. As mentioned earlier, Julius Randle has been a pleasant surprise and is averaging 19.2 points a game. Mirotic, who has been ruled out on Wednesday, is averaging 17.4 points per game on the year.
Thunder vs. Pelicans Prediction
The Thunder come into this game at -2. The Thunder have been firing on all cylinders lately and have been getting contributions across the board. The Pelicans, on the other hand, have been struggling to find offense outside of Anthony Davis. I don’t think the Pelicans will have enough contributions from other players than Davis and will not be able to keep up with the balanced attack of the Thunder. OKC will win by at least 5. Take the Thunder -2.
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