Thunder, Pelicans Match Up Perfectly for Dramatic Game

Oklahoma City drew a challenging matchup with the Pelicans in the 9-seed, 10-seed matchup in the Western Conference after New Orleans lost to the Timberwolves to close their season.

The Thunder and Pelicans faced off four times in the regular season. New Orleans won the first three meetings by a combined 10 points, while the Thunder took the final meeting with a 14 point victory in New Orleans in March.

The two match up extremely well ,as they are similar in many statistical categories in the league and rank near each other in plenty of them, which will make for an intriguing matchup on Wednesday.

The Pelicans get to play at home, which gives them an advantage as they are 27-14 at home, while OKC is 16-25 on the road this season.

The Thunder’s offense scores near the top of the league in points per game with 117.5 (Fifth most in the league) while the Pelicans are 15th with 114.4 points per game. With offenses known to be streaky at times a hot night could be all it takes for one team to have the edge over the other.

While OKC scores more points New Orleans shoots at a more efficient rate, but not by much. The Pelicans shoot at a 48% clip (11th in NBA) compared to the Thunder’s 46.5% (24th).

The difference in the game could come down to rebounding, which is a part of the game the two teams are nearly identical in. The Pelicans edge out the Thunder by .1 rebound per game, averaging 43.7. OKC is undersized, but has a roster of guards known to be good at grabbing misses and getting out in transition. If OKC can win the rebounding battle, they could set themselves up for a successful night.

As for the comparisons of overall offense and defense, the teams again stack up nearly identically. Both teams have an average offensive rating ranking near the middle of the league. While each team’s defensive ratings rank highly. The Pelicans rank sixth in the league with a rating of 112 while OKC sits in 13th with a rating of 113.2.

Wednesday’s matchup could come down to who can get the final shot and who has the better offense.

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