Hoops fans need to get their fix before the Association takes a week-long hiatus for its All-Star break and the matchup between New Orleans and Oklahoma City will provide it. The Thunder fought off a Warriors hangover by knocking off Phoenix on Monday and go for their ninth straight home win.
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SCHEDULING
The Oklahoma City Thunder head into the All-Star break firmly entrenched as the third-best team in the Western Conference. Five of their games after the break will be played against the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs. While the Warriors are rightly considered the favorite to come out of the West again, with the Spurs right behind, the Thunder proved they deserve to have their hat in the ring. OKC is 1-1 against both teams. It beat the Spurs at home in the season-opener, and challenged the Warriors on the road. It won’t be long until we have a clearer idea of how well the Thunder really stack up to the two teams ahead of them. In the meantime, they still have to take care of business. And the Pelicans stand in the way before the break.
New Orleans broke a four-game losing streak and collected its sixth road win of the season with Monday’s 116-102 triumph over the Timberwolves. The Pelicans’ final game before the All-Star break is the second of a back-to-back after playing host to Utah on Wednesday. New Orleans is 3-8 SU and 6-5 ATS in the back end of its 11 back-to-back sets with one of those SU losses coming in the first meeting with the Thunder. The Pels dropped a 110-103 decision at OKC on Nov. 18 after losing at home to Denver the night before. New Orleans was a 12-point dog so they did cover the spread.
INJURIES
The Pelicans are down a pair of shooting guards with Tyreke Evans and Eric Gordon both out of action. Gordon is out until early next month after having surgery on his right ring finger. Evans, meanwhile, has been bothered by an achy knee that’s kept him on the shelf since Jan. 28. There is no timetable on his return.
Reserve guard Andre Roberson remains out of the Thunder lineup due to a sprained right knee. He’s missed the last seven games and isn’t expected to be ready until the middle of February.
KEY MATCHUP
Alvin Gentry noted before Monday’s game with Minnesota that his Pelicans need to get all five players on the court performing well at the same time in order to end what had become a four-game losing streak. One player who has not seen any dip in production over the past week is Anthony Davis, who was actually better during the 0-4 stretch. Davis has increased his numbers in several categories, including averaging 28.5 points and shooting 55.2 percent from the field. He also averaged 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in games against Memphis, San Antonio, the Lakers and Cleveland. His numbers weren’t far off against the Wolves, but he got some help and the Pelicans snapped their slide with a 116-102 victory. Davis hit 12 of 20 shots for 27 points and hauled down eight rebounds. Davis has a mismatch going against OKC’s Steven Adams and the Pels will try and exploit that down low. As long as the Pels stay close and don’t revert to the three-point shot in a comeback attempt, look for Davis to head into the break with a hefty performance.
ANALYSIS AND ODDS PREDICTION
OKC shook off its loss to Golden State with a beating of the Suns on Monday and haven’t lost consecutive games since the start of December, going 28-6 since then. The defense hasn’t been sharp as the Thunder have allowed eight of their last nine opponents to score at least 106 points with five of those reaching to 116. But the offense has more than made up for the deficiencies by reaching triple digits in 11 straight and 22 of the past 23 games. The only time OKC failed to reach the century mark was in a 99-75 win over Miami. The duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant continues to carry the club and as long as those two put up stats at a ridiculous pace, Billy Donovan is in line for Coach of the Year.
Oklahoma City 116, New Orleans 109
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BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder game is scheduled for Thursday, February 11, 2016, at 8 p.m. ET at Chesapeake Energy Arena. The contest will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
