OKC Thunder Head Coach Mark Daigneault, Guard Cason Wallace Discuss Pelicans Matchup
Ahead of Oklahoma City's playoff series against the New Orleans Pelicans, players and coaches talked about their upcoming series after practice on Saturday.
On Sunday night, Oklahoma City will host its first playoff game since the 2019 postseason when the No. 8-seed New Orleans Pelicans come to town.
After taking down the Pelicans 123-118 in the NBA Play-In Tournament last season, the two squads will square off again in the first round a year later.
Following the Thunder's practice session on Saturday, head coach Mark Daigneault and rookie guard Cason Wallace spoke briefly about the team's upcoming matchup, and what makes the Pelicans such a tough team.
"I think what makes their team good (on defense) is just how help-oriented they are," Daigneault said. "They're going to put you in a crowd, they have length at every position, (Herb Jones) is obviously a great individual defender, but he plays inside of their system, similarly to how we use Lu (Dort). Great individual defender but he plays inside of our system. Herb's a great individual defender but they're also a really good defensive team."
For the past three seasons, Jones has been a solid role player for the Pelicans, earning All-Rookie honors in 2021-22 and starting 142 games over the last two years.
When OKC faces New Orleans in the Play-In, Jones had a solid outing, tallying 20 points, five rebounds, five assists, one steal and one block. This season, the former second-round pick is averaging 11 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 41.8% from beyond the arc.
At 6-foot-8, Jones' defensive prowess on the perimeter and 3-point shooting could cause issues for the Thunder in their upcoming series against the Pelicans. As Daigneault mentioned, however, New Orleans has multiple players who could give Oklahoma City's offense problems, especially in transition.
Throughout the regular season, Willie Green's team has been one of the best transition defenses in the NBA, which is an area which OKC has thrived offensively. With Naji Marshall and Trey Murphy III also being solid defenders who have good size on the perimeter, the Thunder will have to break down a good Pelicans defense to score consistently.
On defense, Oklahoma City will have to play with physicality to slow down a New Orleans lineup that has multiple players who can score in flurries. Even without Zion Williamson active for the beginning of the series, CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram can still get hot from the field and make life difficult for OKC's defense.
On Saturday, Wallace noted that the entire team will have to play with good effort to slow down a Pelicans offense that has scored at least 105 points in its last 10 games.
"We're going to have to bring it with all five," Wallace said. "No matter who's on the court, for both teams. We're going to have to play very physical and keep our man in front, contest every shot the best we can."
With the No. 4 defensive rating in the NBA, the Thunder have played solid defense all season and will look to continue their efforts on Sunday night in game one of the series.
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