After a regular season full of ups and downs, twists and turns, load management issues and team sitting half their roster for seemingly no reason, we’ve reached the postseason in the NBA. The 10th-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder are on the road as they take on the ninth-seeded New Orleans Pelicans in the second Western Conference play-in game Wednesday night. In this one, the winner moves on to face the loser of the 7/8 matchup for a chance to earn the eight seed in the Western Conference playoff picture while the loser is done for the year. Oklahoma City dropped Memphis 115-100 at home in their regular season finale Sunday afternoon, covering the line as a two-point favorite. New Orleans fell 113-108 on the road against Minnesota, failing to cover as a 3.5-point underdog, in their regular season finale Sunday. The Pelicans won three of the four meetings this season though it was the Thunder taking a 110-96 road win in the most recent matchup on March 11.
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Oklahoma City closed the season with back-to-back wins to finish the season on a positive note as they dropped the Grizzlies in their regular season finale. The Thunder closed the year 40-42 and finished third in the Northwest Division, 13 games behind the Nuggets for the top spot. Against Memphis, Oklahoma City trailed by four after the opening quarter and by two at the half before taking control of the game in the second half. The Thunder outscored the Grizzlies 38-24 in the third quarter to take a 12-point lead and didn’t let Memphis closer than 10 in the final stanza. Oklahoma City shot an even 50% from the field, including 12 of 36 from three-point range, and won the rebounding battle 49-43. Jared Butler led the Thunder with 25 points in the win.
This season, the Thunder are 5th in the league in scoring offense as they average 117.5 points per game on the year. Oklahoma City i s 14th in rebounding with 43.6 boards per contest while they are 21st in assists with 24.4 dimes a night. The Thunder are 19th in the league in scoring defense as they allow an average of 116.4 points a night. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the team with 31.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per contest. Luguentz Dort is the most reliable secondary scoring option with 13.7 points per game. The Thunder look to get more production from Josh Giddey (16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists) and Tre Mann (7.7 points) are other secondary scoring options. Aleksej Pokusevski, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Jalen Williams (14.1 points), Dario Saric, Kenrich Williams, Darius Bazley and Aaron Wiggins have to be contributors if they hope to have success. Oklahoma City is 24th in the league in field goal percentage as they shoot 46.5% from the floor as a team on the year. The Thunder are 15th by hitting 12.1 threes per game and 17th in three-point shooting by hitting 35.6% of their attempts from beyond the arc.
Chet Holmgren, the second overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft, will miss the season after suffering a Lisfranc injury he suffered in a pro-am event during the summer. Kenrich Williams (wrist) is done for the season after rupturing a ligament.