Williamson, Ingram lead Pelicans over Thunder
Oklahoma City is back in the loss column.
Coming off a big win against Boston, the Thunder struggled to produce offensively Thursday night, falling to New Orleans 109-95.
The star duo of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson paced the Pelicans, combining to score 51 points in the win. Neither player hit a three-pointer in the win.
Williamson led all scorers with 27 points. Ingram followed with 24.
On a rough shooting night for OKC, Luguentz Dort led the team with 17 points, blossoming late after struggling early. Rookie Theo Maledon added 15 and Darius Bazley added 15 on 6-for-15 shooting.
New Thunder signee Gabriel Deck made his debut Thursday, flashily adding two points, two assists, and two rebounds in 15 minutes.
The Thunder as a whole shot just 38-percent. They made just 11 of their 39 attempted three-pointers.
Alonzo Adams / USA TODAY Sports
New Orleans grabbed an early lead and never looked back, outscoring Oklahoma City in three of the four quarters. The closest OKC would get after halftime was 11.
The Pelicans were rock solid on defense in the first half, holding the Thunder to just 31-percent from the floor while turning Oklahoma City over nine times.
Just two players finished with a positive plus-minus for OKC: Aleksej Pokusevski and Deck.
With the loss, the Thunder move to 21-41 and again hold sole possession of the fifth worst record in the league.
