3 Takeaways From OKC Thunder's Dismantling Win Over New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans shook things up at the NBA trade deadline by shipping away Brandon Ingram to the Toronto Raptors, so it's not a surprise the Oklahoma City Thunder got past it with ease Monday night.

In Chet Holmgren's second game since his return to action, the Thunder picked up a massive blowout win in a 137-101 contest. That brings it to a staggering 43-9 record, while the Pelicans dropped to 12-41 amid a season full of frustrations.

Consistency from its MVP frontunner, a big performance off the bench and efficient helped catapult Oklahoma City a strong game on all fronts. As it has with many of its opponents this season, it took care of business rather handily.

Here are three takeaways from the 36-point victory:

Aaron Wiggins Continues Success

The player undergoing the most success for the Thunder as of late — aside from the obvious — is undoubetdly Aaron Wiggins.

The forward put up 24 points, two rebounds and three steals on 9-of-13 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 from 3-point range in 25 minutes off the bench. In the last six games combined, he's averaging about 23 points a game on nearly 57% shooting from the field and 49% from deep.

Wiggins has blossomed in the last couple of weeks especially, even if he's always been a key piece of Oklahoma City's bench unit. He's been the most reliable piece by a signficant margin, combining efficient shot-making with strong perimeter defense.

Any talks of including Wiggins in a trade in the past now seem ridiculous. Once the playoffs come around his production is going to be mightily important, and he has the flexibility to be put in a number of spots in the starting lineup if needed. He's a jack of all trades of sorts.

After Monday's win, Holmgren said, "Every team could use an Aaron Wiggins." The hot streak the 26-year-old is on more than validates that claim.

No 4th, No Problem

The pace at which Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores the basketball is hard to compare to anyone else. No matter how much he plays during any given game, he's going to get his and no opponent can do anything about it.

That was proven once again against New Orleans, as the guard put up a light 31 points, two assists and three steals on 10-of-20 shooting from the field. He knocked down four 3-pointers, while only getting to the line for 7-of-8 made attempts. All of this was done in just 31 minutes.

Given the blowout circumstances, coach Mark Daigneault did not play Gilgeous-Alexander for the entirety of the fourth quarter. That's the 14th time that's happened this season alone, showing just how dominant the Thunder has been in most of its wins.

Regardless of the relative small dose of minutes compared to what'd he usually receive, Gilgeous-Alexander made the most of his time. He led Oklahoma City to such a gigantic lead that it had no issues in making it past New Orleans, and ultimately, the win and his health are what matters the most in these types of games.

An Offense on Fire

The high offensive numbers for Gilgeous-Alexander and Wiggins not only made for good nights individually, but helped propel the Thunder offense to a hugely efficient day from all areas.

As a team Oklahoma City shot nearly 52% from the field, but the more impressive feat is its 27-of-55 shooting from behind the arc. That made for 49% of its 3-pointers being successful — which completely torched the Pelicans defense throughout the night.

Aside from the top two scorers of the game, lots of Thunder players found success on 3-pointers. Alex Caruso went for 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3-point range, Jalen Williams knocked down 3-of-4, Kenrich Williams completed 3-of-3 and even Holmgren hit 2-of-5. All around, the shots found the bottom of the net almost as much as they didn't

Oklahoma City's offense is prone to losing some steam on 3-pointers, but that wasn't the case against New Orleans. With that hot of a shooting night it's hard to expect any team to outscore it, especially one that is towards the bottom of the Western Conference.

This win may have been the obvious outcome, but that doesn't make the fashion it happened in any less impressive.

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