NBA Playoffs: Top Storylines For OKC Thunder Against New Orleans Pelicans

The Oklahoma City Thunder will battle the New Orleans Pelicans in the First Round with many storylines to watch for.

Author:
Rylan Stiles
Apr 20, 2024

In this story:

NBA

Thunder

OKC Thunder

New Orleans Pelicans

Pelicans

OKC

NBA Playoffs

Playoffs

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Trey Murphy III

NBA Postseason

Josh Giddey

Chet Holmgren

Jonas Valanciunas

The Postseason is all about matchups and stars. The Oklahoma City Thunder (57-25) finally found out their opponent for the first round of the NBA Playoffs on Friday. The Thunder will welcome in the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday, April 21 for a best-of-7 set.

This series is not your typical No. 1 vs. No. 8 seed as the Pelicans have rattled off 49 wins in their own right, reaching the 50 mark if you count their victory over the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

In the regular season, the Thunder won the season series two games to one, the lone loss being a blown 20-point lead in the Paycom Center back on Nov. 1. Last season, these two teams faced off in a win-or-go-home game in New Orleans during the NBA Play-In Tournament as Oklahoma City came out on top.

Sunday marks the beginning of the first playoff run for this new era of Oklahoma City Thunder basketball, headlined by a young roster, a young coach, and an MVP-caliber star.

The series will present a ton of interesting storylines to follow as it develops but even before the ball is tipped there are plenty of things to monitor.

undefined — Jan 26, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2)

Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the No. 1 Option on a Playoff Team

As a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Gilgeous-Alexander has played in seven playoff games, 14 total throughout his career. Though, this is totally different. This is not the NBA Bubble as a second option, this is not a rookie playing a loaded Warriors squad, this is as the No. 1 seed and option.

How will Gilgeous-Alexander perform as the lights are bright, the crowds are rowdy, the pressure is on him, the entire team looking to him and Herb Jones on the otherside?

Every data point suggests he will handle it well, as he did last season against this very team. However, it is still a storyline to watch. Each year there are playoff risers and fallers, and the first time navigating the postseason can be difficult.

Ultimately, you should expect things to not only go positively for Gilgeous-Alexander but improve. The star guard should receive more minutes and possessions which will increase his production.

While Jones has been one of the best defenders on Gilgeous-Alexander, and his averages against the Pelicans have dipped this season, the Thunder's MVP candidate poured in 32 points, five boards, three assists and as many steals including the dagger jumper to seal the Thunder's play in win in New Orleans last season.

Can Josh Giddey Keep his Recent Hot Streak?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Josh Giddey do a 180 this season after struggling to start his third year. Since March 1 Giddey is averaging 15.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.2 stocks per game.

This includes 54 percent from the floor and 37 percent from beyond the arc. In that stretch, Giddey turns in a 69 percent shooting clip at the rim, 40 percent on non-corner triples and 50 percent in the mid-range.

Giddey has turned around his season as an offensive weapon getting to the rim and opening things up for his teammates. As impressive as his offensive production has been his ability to gel within the teams defensive scheme.

While the NBL star will not be an elite point-of-attack defender his engagement on that end with his size leads to deflections and rebounds to spark transition. The 21-year-old's willingness to stick his nose into things on the glass will swing any series this year but specifically against the Pelicans.

Chet Holmgren With Rest

Holmgren has unquestionably turned in a fantastic rookie season. The second overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft played in all 82 contests this season after missing the entire 2022-23 campaign with a Lisfranc Fracture.

While the Gonzaga product was consistently good throughout the year, he was even better with extended time off. Holmgren started the year with a bang averaging 18 points, eight rebounds, two assists, 27 blocks and 13 steals in 14 games during the month of Nov.

When Holmgren is handed three-plus days of rest he is averaging 16 points, nine rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. These stats jump to 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists per game when he has two days off which happened 11 times this season.

In the six games post-All-Star Break, Holmgren posted 21.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.0 blocks per game on 61/43/87 shooting splits. Oklahoma City owned a 5-1 record in that span.

This week, the Oklahoma City Thunder have earned six days off before beginning their first-round series with New Orleans on Sunday inside the Paycom Center.

Trey Murphy III Hot Nights

The quickest way to steal a game in any series is with an incredible hot shooting night. As a lower seed, you are nearly always dependent on shooting various to keep you in it. With the New Orleans Pelicans length to lock in defensively, a fantastic shooting display would be able to shave games off this sprint to four victories.

Murphy III is a likely candidate to get hot from distance with a 38 percent average from beyond the arc this season he has produced 11 games with five or more triples including a 10 3-pointer outburst against the Raptors in March.

In the Pelicans narrow loss to the Thunder in last season's play-in tournament, Murphy III splashed in four triples on his way to 21 points.

While this storyline extends to more than just the Virginia product if he is having a hot night from beyond the arc you have to like the Pelicans' chances in that game.

The Thunder Rotation

While there is a lot of talk surrounding the inexperience of this Oklahoma City Thunder, that inexperience can be cast to the sidelines as well. While Mark Daigneault has already bought home coach of the Year honors from the Caoches Association, this is his first trip to the NBA Playoffs.

Typically during the 82-game regular season, Daigneault is very unconventional flipping through his Rolodex of players 11 or 12 deep most nights, even extending to 13 players on occasion.

In the playoffs, that changes for most coaches. A ridge set of eight men shuffle on and off the court with stubbornness often getting in the way of success. There should be no concern of Daigneault falling into that trap, but how unconventional is he willing to stay as everything is put under a microscope?

Ultimately, do not expect Daigneault will stray too far from his regular season habits, but what will that blend look like in the playoffs? The Thunder bench boss was asked about his approach to his rotation this week at practice.

"I'm not a big believer in cutting guys out of a series for no reason. I think that can happen sometimes," Daigneault said when asked about trimming the rotation on Thursday.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's rotation is one of many storylines to follow throughout this season but an important one with the Thunder's deep bench.

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