Anthony Davis is coming off the most impressive game of any NBA player all season. Not only did The Brow drop 59 points and 20 rebounds, but he also knocked down 24 of his 34 shots from the floor and effectively carried the Pelicans on his back to get a win. Now Davis will get to try his luck against one of the best frontcourts in the game when the Pelicans host the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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LOOK AHEAD
The Thunder have lost their first two back from the All-Star Break in home tilts against the Pacers and Cavaliers, and now travel to correct their mini-skid. Road games in back-to-back nights against Dallas and New Orleans don't seem too daunting, but OKC wants to prove it has the potential to win a title and may overlook the Pelicans during this stretch with Golden State on deck in Oklahoma City two days after this one.
KEY MATCHUP
The Brow was insane against Detroit on Sunday but wasn't nearly that good on the glass when the Pelicans and Thunders played right before the break. Davis got his points, putting up 23 on the night, but only grabbed three rebounds as the Thunder outrebounded the Pelicans by 21. Davis wasn't alone in his rebounding struggles in that game, as no Pelican collected more than five rebounds while four Thunder players grabbed at least six, including Russell Westbrook with nine boards.
Jrue Holliday has really been the only help that Davis has had for much of the year and was the only other player in double figures for the Pelicans in their win against the Pistons. Holliday put up 20 points and added seven rebounds and nine assists and kept Detroit from totally collapsing everyone on Davis. Holliday shot well against the Thunder just a couple weeks ago as well, but there are no secondary options to these two other than maybe Ryan Anderson.
When the Thunder acquired Dion Waiters at the trade deadline a year ago, OKC hoped that a change of scenery would lead to the former Top 5 pick rediscovering his potential. Unfortunately, this experiment has flopped and Waiters has really struggled in the starting role. In his first two games back from the break, Waiters is just 1-for-14 from the floor and has a total of four points. This is despite playing 30 minutes a night with an otherwise All-Star cast and with defenses content to let him shoot while focusing on Westbrook and Kevin Durant.
If there's a weakness that the Pelicans will be able to attack it's Waiters.
LIVE BETTING SCENARIO
The Thunder have been an awful team on the road this NBA season for bettors, compiling a woeful 7-17 record ATS. OKC covered its last road game, a 16 point win over Phoenix on February 8, but prior to that had failed to cover nine straight road games.
New Orleans hasn't been able to match its play at home from last year with the Pelicans just 11-16 ATS as hosts to date. The over has been an extremely profitable play in Pelicans' home games though with 20 of 27 games going over the line, including four of their last five.
Rebounding is going to be the difference here. If the Thunder can match their differential the last time these two met, the Pelicans have no shot. Davis is going to have to have a great day on the boards in order to give New Orleans any chance to win, but will be undermanned going against Serge Ibaka, Steven Adams and Enes Kanter.
If OKC is outrebounding New Orleans early, be sure to jump on the Thunder on the readjusted pointspread quickly; especially if they got out to a slow start and trail by double-digits.
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