OKC Thunder Take Down Pelicans in Summer League with Second Half Push

The Oklahoma City Thunder had another opportunity to show off their skills in the Las Vegas NBA Summer League, leading to a 95-81 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. This helped the Thunder earn an undefeated record and slotted them in the top four teams in the Summer League.

This was an ugly one from the beginning, with only 32 total points being scored in the first quarter between both teams. This was a testament to both squads on defense, with both squads forcing plenty of turnovers.

OKC forced 14 turnovers on the Pelicans, while New Orleans forced eight. OKC's bench guard Erik Reynolds did a good job of applying that defensive pressure, grabbing three steals by the game's end, which led the team.

Pelicans' rookie Jeremiah Fears was the main contributor early on for them, scoring 22 by the game's end. He shot 8-for-15 from the field, as well. Trey Alexander, a guard off the bench for New Orleans, also helped with the scoring. He finished with 25 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

To put it simply, the first half of this game was very ugly. The score at the end was 34-32 in New Orleans' favor, but both teams continued to struggle on offense throughout it. OKC never had much momentum and could not find a way to pull ahead and attempt to earn an undefeated record.

There was never a clear standout for the Thunder either until Northwestern rookie Brooks Barnhizer exploded in the third and fourth quarters. He finished the night with 19 points, nine rebounds and an assist, along with two blocks. He was all over the place in a good way for OKC.

With the third quarter winding down, the Thunder finally went on a Thunder-esque run, led by Barnhizer and two-way big man Branden Carlson. Barnhizer was getting his usual hustle buckets and Carlson did it from the interior and perimeter, helping them earn at most a 10-point lead. The Pelicans did battle back a little, but OKC held a 66-57 lead going into the final quarter.

Also helping in that time was Chris Youngblood, who has slowly cemented himself as one of the better players on this Thunder Summer League squad. He finished the game with 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting, going 3-for-6 from the perimeter, as well.

As the quarter went on, Barnhizer continued to light up the Pelicans. His effort far exceeded anyone else on the court and he single-handedly pushed the Thunder to the finish line once again.

Both teams battled for a few more minutes, but there wasn't much New Orleans could do at that point. OKC pulled out an impressive win, highlighted by some impressive second-half effort. They did it without two of their best as well, in Nikola Topic and Ajay Mitchell.

The Thunder will have one more Summer League test, but the team, time and date are yet to be determined. They finished with a 4-0 record during the Las Vegas portion of it and finished atop the Summer League standings.