Game ID: 22300640
Oklahoma City Thunder @ New Orleans Pelicans
Friday, January 26, 2024 at 8:00 PM ET
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, LA
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
NOP 24 17 23 19 83OKC 22 28 27 30 107
NOP vs OKC ScoutingNOP vs OKC Scouting
Welcome to the scouting desk. The coffee is cold, the film is play-by-play, and somebody has to explain what happened.
Every game has a hinge — a stretch where it was decided, usually while everyone was watching something else. Start where the evidence lives: the Lineups' face-offs say which five actually won their minutes; the Possessions ledger says who ran ahead of the night's own pace; the Shot Chart says where the points really came from, which is rarely where the highlights were. When all three agree, that is the story. When they don't — that is why this desk has a chair.
NOP availability going into 1/15 · 1 day's restOUT Ryan missed 27 since 11/20, out tonight
BACK Murphy III back 1/05 after 3, 23 min since (76% of 30)
BACK Alvarado back 1/12 after 2, 21 min since (118% of 18)
NOP availability going into 1/17 · 1 day's restOUT Ryan missed 28 since 11/20, out tonight
BACK Alvarado back 1/12 after 2, 21 min since (118% of 18)
NOP availability going into 1/19 · 1 day's restOUT Ryan missed 29 since 11/20, out tonight
BACK Alvarado back 1/12 after 2, 15 min since (83% of 18)
NOP availability going into 1/23 · 3 days' restOUT Ryan missed 30 since 11/20, out tonight
BACK Alvarado back 1/12 after 2, 13 min since (72% of 18)
NOP availability going into 1/26 · 2 days' restOUT Ryan missed 31 since 11/20, out tonight
NEW Hawkins 17 to 23 min over the last 5
NOP availability going into 1/27 · back-to-backOUT Ryan missed 32 since 11/20, out tonight
NOP availability going into 1/29 · 1 day's restOUT Ryan missed 33 since 11/20, out tonight
NOP availability going into 1/31 · 1 day's restOUT Ryan missed 34 since 11/20, out tonight
NOP availability going into 2/02 · 1 day's restOUT Ryan missed 35 since 11/20, out tonight
OKC availability going into 1/18 · 1 day's restBACK Dieng back 1/11 after 9, 12 min since (118% of 10)
OKC availability going into 1/20 · 1 day's restBACK Dieng back 1/11 after 9, 12 min since (118% of 10)
OKC availability going into 1/23 · 2 days' restOUT Dieng missed 2 since 1/18, out tonight
OKC availability going into 1/24 · back-to-backOUT Dieng missed 3 since 1/18, out tonight
OKC availability going into 1/26 · 1 day's restOUT Dieng missed 4 since 1/18, out tonight
OKC availability going into 1/28 · 1 day's restOUT Dieng missed 5 since 1/18, out tonight
OKC availability going into 1/29 · back-to-backOUT Dieng missed 6 since 1/18, out tonight
OKC availability going into 1/31 · 1 day's restOUT Dieng missed 7 since 1/18, returns tonight: 9 min (85% of 10)
OKC availability going into 2/02 · 1 day's restBACK Dieng back 1/31 after 7, 9 min since (85% of 10)
I Know — the desk, before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
New Orleans comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 126 a night and allowing 118, shooting 51 percent and 41 from three, 28 free throws a game; McCollum at 23 and Williamson at 21 a game. It has won the glass by 5 a night. 2 days' rest. OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 121 a night and allowing 115, shooting 50 percent and 41 from three, 25 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 30 and Jal. Williams at 21 a game. That is 4 straight wins. One day's rest.
So: New Orleans wins, and the game turns on the glass, where New Orleans has been plus-5 a night and OKC minus-2. Call it New Orleans 119, OKC 118, OKC keeping it close.
1/15 @ DAL 120-125 — NOP notes
NOP lost 120-125. NOP shot 51% (41 of 81) to DAL's 46%, 7 of 23 from three, and went to the line 41 times to DAL's 35 — 31 points from the stripe to their 29. Williamson led with 30 (12 of 17, 6 of 11 at the line); McCollum added 23, Nance Jr. 14. Q2 was theirs, 42-26, the deficit cut from 16 to 0, but the other 3 periods went 99-78 against them. They led by as many as 10. Valančiūnas's -22 in 19 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/17 vs CHA 132-112 — NOP notes
NOP won 132-112. NOP shot 50% (44 of 88) to CHA's 43%, 25 of 47 from three. Ingram led with 28 (8 of 19, 7 of 11 from three); McCollum added 22, Hawkins 21. The hinge was Q3, 30-21: a lead of 5 became 14, and the lead reached 24. Nance Jr. was the night's best plus/minus at +21.
1/19 vs PHX 109-123 — NOP notes
NOP lost 109-123. NOP shot 44% (41 of 93) to PHX's 49%, 10 of 42 from three. Williamson led with 24 (11 of 17); Ingram added 17, Valančiūnas 16. Q4 was theirs, 29-23, the deficit cut from 20 to 14, but the other 3 periods went 100-80 against them. Williamson's -23 in 33 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/23 vs UTA 153-124 — NOP notes
NOP won 153-124. NOP shot 58% (60 of 104) to UTA's 47%, 23 of 46 from three, and got to the line 15 times to UTA's 32. The glass went 57-38 for them. McCollum led with 33 (11 of 17, 9 of 13 from three); Jones added 22, Ingram 18. The hinge was Q2, 43-29: a lead of 4 became 18, and the lead reached 35. Murphy III was the night's best plus/minus at +23.
1/26 vs OKC 83-107 — NOP notes
NOP lost 83-107. NOP shot 39% (32 of 82) to OKC's 48%, 9 of 36 from three. NOP turned it over 20 times to OKC's 11, and OKC turned those into 11 steals. Jones led with 14 (6 of 12, 2 of 7 from three); Valančiūnas added 14, McCollum 12. Q1 was theirs, 24-22, but the other 3 periods went 85-59 against them. McCollum's -20 in 35 minutes was the worst on the floor.
1/27 @ MIL — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Milwaukee comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 117 a night and allowing 122, shooting 46 percent and 33 from three, 29 free throws a game; Antetokounmpo at 30 and Lillard at 26 a game. Second night of a back-to-back. New Orleans comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 118, shooting 49 percent and 38 from three, 23 free throws a game; Williamson at 21 and McCollum at 21 a game. Second night of a back-to-back.
So: Milwaukee wins, and the game turns on the arc, New Orleans at 38 percent from three to Milwaukee's 33 and the line, where Milwaukee takes 29 free throws a game to New Orleans's 23. Call it Milwaukee 119, New Orleans 118, New Orleans keeping it close.
1/29 @ BOS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Boston comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 109, shooting 46 percent and 36 from three, 20 free throws a game; Tatum at 25 and Porziņģis at 24 a game. One day's rest. New Orleans comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 121, shooting 48 percent and 39 from three, 22 free throws a game; Ingram at 20 and Williamson at 19 a game. One day's rest.
So: Boston wins, and the game turns on the defense, Boston allowing 109 a night to New Orleans's 121 and the turnovers, New Orleans giving it away 13 times a game to Boston's 9. Call it Boston 119, New Orleans 112.
1/31 @ HOU — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Houston comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 123 a night and allowing 116, shooting 49 percent and 32 from three, 25 free throws a game; Ja. Green at 27 and Sengun at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest. New Orleans comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 123, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 20 free throws a game; Williamson at 22 and Ingram at 20 a game. That is 3 straight losses. One day's rest.
So: Houston wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Houston has been plus-8 a night and New Orleans plus-1 and the defense, Houston allowing 116 a night to New Orleans's 123. Call it Houston 119, New Orleans 114.
2/02 @ SAS — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
San Antonio comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 116, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 21 free throws a game; Wembanyama at 23 and Vassell at 22 a game. Without Collins (3 straight). One day's rest. New Orleans comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 115 a night and allowing 118, shooting 49 percent and 36 from three, 20 free throws a game; Williamson at 22 and Ingram at 22 a game. It has won the glass by 8 a night. One day's rest.
So: New Orleans wins, on the road, and the game turns on the glass, where New Orleans has been plus-8 a night and San Antonio plus-1. Call it New Orleans 116, San Antonio 115, San Antonio keeping it close.
1/18 @ UTA 134-129 — OKC notes
OKC won 134-129. OKC shot 56% (48 of 86) to UTA's 48%, 14 of 32 from three, and got to the line 28 times to UTA's 36. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 31 (8 of 15, 15 of 17 at the line); Jal. Williams added 27, Giddey 20. The hinge was Q1, 39-27: from level to 12 ahead, and the lead reached 19. Jal. Williams was the night's best plus/minus at +16.
1/20 @ MIN 102-97 — OKC notes
OKC won 102-97. OKC shot 40% (32 of 81) to MIN's 41%, 8 of 24 from three, and went to the line 35 times to MIN's 29 — 30 points from the stripe to their 21. OKC turned it over 8 times to MIN's 21. The glass went 37-50 against them. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 33 (10 of 22, 12 of 13 at the line); Jal. Williams added 20, Holmgren 15. The hinge was Q4, 28-14: OKC came in trailing by 9 and left it ahead by 5, and the lead reached 16.
1/23 vs POR 111-109 — OKC notes
OKC won 111-109. OKC shot 48% (43 of 89) to POR's 43%, 7 of 23 from three, and went to the line 28 times to POR's 21 — 18 points from the stripe to their 17. OKC turned it over 12 times to POR's 19. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 33 (10 of 24, 0 of 3 from three, 13 of 17 at the line); Jal. Williams added 19, Wiggins 13. The hinge was Q1, 38-28: from level to 10 ahead. OKC trailed 58-66 at the half and won the second half 53-43. Gilgeous-Alexander was the night's best plus/minus at +17.
1/24 @ SAS 140-114 — OKC notes
OKC won 140-114. OKC shot 56% (54 of 96) to SAS's 50%, 18 of 40 from three, and got to the line 16 times to SAS's 25. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 32 (9 of 15, 12 of 12 at the line); Wiggins added 22, Holmgren 17. The hinge was Q3, 37-24: a lead of 11 became 24, and the lead reached 32. K. Williams was the night's best plus/minus at +21.
1/26 @ NOP 107-83 — OKC notes
OKC won 107-83. OKC shot 48% (42 of 88) to NOP's 39%, 10 of 33 from three. OKC turned it over 11 times to NOP's 20. Gilgeous-Alexander led with 31 (10 of 21, 3 of 8 from three, 8 of 9 at the line); Holmgren added 20, Jal. Williams 15. The hinge was Q2, 28-17: OKC came in trailing by 2 and left it ahead by 9, and the lead reached 26. Jal. Williams was the night's best plus/minus at +22.
1/28 @ DET — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
Detroit comes in 1-4 over its last five, scoring 116 a night and allowing 122, shooting 47 percent and 40 from three, 25 free throws a game; Bogdanović at 24 and Ivey at 17 a game. It has lost the glass by 5 a night. Without Wiseman (3 straight). Second night of a back-to-back. OKC comes in 5-0 over its last five, scoring 119 a night and allowing 106, shooting 50 percent and 38 from three, 24 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 32 and Jal. Williams at 19 a game. That is 5 straight wins. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, on the road, and the game turns on the defense, OKC allowing 106 a night to Detroit's 122 and the glass, where OKC has been minus-1 a night and Detroit minus-5. Call it OKC 121, Detroit 112.
1/29 vs MIN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 105, shooting 48 percent and 34 from three, 21 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 32 and Jal. Williams at 17 a game. Second night of a back-to-back. Minnesota comes in 2-3 over its last five, scoring 110 a night and allowing 109, shooting 48 percent and 41 from three, 23 free throws a game; Towns at 31 and Edwards at 24 a game. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the arc, Minnesota at 41 percent from three to OKC's 34 and the glass, where Minnesota has been plus-2 a night and OKC minus-3. Call it OKC 113, Minnesota 110, Minnesota keeping it close.
1/31 vs DEN — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 113 a night and allowing 107, shooting 49 percent and 36 from three, 18 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 33 and Jal. Williams at 17 a game. One day's rest. Denver comes in 4-1 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 109, shooting 47 percent and 30 from three, 24 free throws a game; Jokić at 31 and Murray at 23 a game. It has won the glass by 4 a night. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the glass, where Denver has been plus-4 a night and OKC minus-1 and the arc, OKC at 36 percent from three to Denver's 30. Call it OKC 115, Denver 109.
2/02 vs CHA — I Know, the desk before tip-off
Written before tip-off, from the five games each side brought in.
OKC comes in 3-2 over its last five, scoring 111 a night and allowing 105, shooting 48 percent and 38 from three, 18 free throws a game; Gilgeous-Alexander at 33 and Jal. Williams at 17 a game. One day's rest. Charlotte comes in 0-5 over its last five, scoring 107 a night and allowing 123, shooting 45 percent and 36 from three, 21 free throws a game; Bridges at 23 and Washington at 22 a game. That is 5 straight losses. It has lost the glass by 7 a night. One day's rest.
So: OKC wins, and the game turns on the defense, OKC allowing 105 a night to Charlotte's 123 and the glass, where OKC has been plus-0 a night and Charlotte minus-7. Call it OKC 120, Charlotte 107, OKC by 13.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
NOPBI B. Ingram
CM C. McCollum
CZ C. Zeller
DD D. Daniels
EL E. Liddell
HJ H. Jones
JA J. Alvarado
JH J. Hawkins
JR J. Robinson-Earl
JV J. Valančiūnas
LN L. Nance Jr.
NM N. Marshall
TM T. Murphy III
OKCAW A. Wiggins
CH C. Holmgren
CW C. Wallace
IJ I. Joe
JG J. Giddey
JW J. Williams
JW Jal. Williams
JW Jay. Williams
KW K. Williams
LD L. Dort
MI Micic
SG S. Gilgeous-Alexander
VM V. Micić
NOP/OKC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
END the clock ran out, ball in hand
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scores 31 points to help Thunder rout Pelicans, 107-83
NEW ORLEANS -- — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder routed the New Orleans Pelicans 107-83 on Friday night to improve their NBA-leading road record to 15-8.
Chet Holmgren added 20 points and 13 rebounds to help the Thunder win their fourth straight on the road.
On Thursday, Gilgeous-Alexander was voted a Western Conference starter for the All-Star Game.
“It’s an honor, it’s a blessing,” he said. “Obviously, there’s so many talented players in the NBA, so many talented guards, especially in the West. To be voted first by my peers, who do the same job as me, is a really good feeling.”
Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said the consistency he has seen in Gilgeous-Alexander’s play might be the most impressive attribute of his All-Star season.
“He does it inside the team,” Daigneault said. “His success also impacts the team and somehow creates space for other guys to elevate and improve and other guys to rock out a little bit. He’s able to balance high ambition and high production with creating the level of space he does for the rest of the team. That, to me, is the most impressive thing. He’s a great player. ”
Herb Jones and Jonas Valanciunas each had 14 points for New Orleans. Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum each added 12.
Playing without Zion Williamson because of a bone bruise in his left foot, the Pelicans shot just 39% three days after setting a franchise record for points in a 153-124 victory over Utah. After making 23 3-pointers on Tuesday, New Orleans was held to 9-of-36 shooting against the Thunder en route to a season-low 83 points.
“We did a great job defensively, obviously, and it was pretty consistent throughout the game,” Daigneault said. “We were able to sustain a really high level defensively throughout. There wasn’t much that they got that was easy.”
Oklahoma City also shot poorly from deep (10 of 33), but the Thunder went 13 of 14 from the foul line and forced 16 New Orleans turnovers. The Thunder missed 16 of their first 24 shots, but they made 34 of 64 over the final three quarters.
“The sign of a mature team is the ability to sustain intelligent offense and high-level intensity on defense, regardless of the ball going in,” Daigneault said.
The 70-point drop-off from the record output Tuesday ate at Pelicans coach Willie Green, who blamed his team’s collapse on not being able to take care of the basketball.
“Some of (the turnovers) were just unforced,” Green said. “Being active and getting turnovers is what (the Thunder) do well, but after we work on it and work on it and our team comes out and doesn’t execute the way we can, it’s deflating. It starts with the turnovers.”
McCollum, who had four turnovers, agreed.
“The way we played two games ago was different,” McCollum said. “Zion had the ball out and pushed the tempo. We played through him a lot, but he (didn’t) play tonight. It (was) just a different game, and we need to be better. We didn’t play well and turned the ball over.”
Williamson went through pregame warmups but was held out as a precaution. Green said his status would be updated before Saturday night’s game against the Bucks.