Thunder Nipped by Pelicans, Fall in Summer League Closer
The Oklahoma City Thunder have capped off their Summer League stint.
Both sides entered Sunday night with depleted rotations. With the Thunder resting 10 players, including all drafted rookies outside of Jaylin Williams, and the Pelicans missing Dyson Daniels and E.J. Liddell to injury – this contest helped showcase both teams’ back-end pieces.
In the Thunder’s Summer League closer, they dropped the ball – falling 107-71 to the Pelicans.
New Orleans mounted a strong 6-of-10 start in the first frame, forcing Oklahoma City to play from beyond-the-arc for the latter stages of the period. After attempting 16-of-21 shots from distance in the frame, the Thunder were down 30-21 through 10 minutes.
Oklahoma City shot 15-of-45 from three Sunday evening.
The second frame turned into a back-and-forth battle between Thunder forward Gabe Brown and Pelicans wing Dereon Seabron. Brown unloaded for OKC, dropping 11-of-20 second quarter points. For Seabron, he cushioned a 16-point half with eight points in the period.
The halftime horn called for a 51-41 Pelicans lead.
New Orleans caught fire to open the second half, notably through wing John Butler Jr. After sitting on the doorstep of a 20-point lead for much of the quarter, they surged past Oklahoma City, stamping a 79-54 lead going into the fourth.
Butler Jr., a 7-foot-1 wing, ended the game with 25 points on a perfect 9-of-9 shooting.
Oklahoma City made a valiant effort to close the distance in the fourth. However, the colossal deficit proved to be too large of a hole.
Gabe Brown made a strong case for a training camp spot, downing 8-of-15 shots en route to 23 points. Brown, age 22, is an impressive catch-and-shoot option at the forward spots, filling a role the Thunder mightily struggled in last season.
Jaden Shackelford and Vit Krejci dropped double figures, respectively, adding 15 and 13 points.
Jaylin Williams struggled from the floor, going a blank 0-of-5. However, the big man did rack up eight rebounds and eight assists in play.
After a 2-1 outing in Salt Lake City and a 3-2 conclusion to the Las Vegas Summer League, the Thunder will shift their focus towards crafting their training camp roster.
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