While some fans are probably looking for losses instead of wins to increase lottery odds and have a bottom three record by the end of the season, it is hard to stay mad at the Oklahoma City Thunder for winning games like they did on Sunday against the New Orleans Pelicans. Especially considering the Pelicans’ miraculous buzzer-beater the last time these two teams met.
The Pelicans were shorthanded as they missed their top two scorers with Jonas Valanciunas ruled out before the game and Brandon Ingram exiting after nine minutes. But that should not discredit how well the young players — specifically the rookies — played. Especially when second-rounders like Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Aaron Wiggins play as well as they did.
The Thunder have spoken multiple times about learning from previous experiences and specifically how to handle late, close games. The fruits of their labor were there this game as the Thunder fought off any Pelicans comeback attempt. It helps that the Pelicans didn’t have its top two scorers and were relying on Josh Hart for scoring, but there’s no need to apologize for handling business regardless on who is on the opposition.
With all that said, let’s take a look at player grades from Sunday night: