The Oklahoma City Thunder will play the New Orleans Pelicans in a play-in tournament game Wednesday night, so we decided to create a roundtable to see who the NBA Wire staff has coming out victorious.
The winner will go on the road to face the Minnesota Timberwolves for the eighth seed on Friday, April 14. The winner of that matchup will face the first-seeded Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs.
While the Thunder went 1-3 in their four regular-season contests against the Pelicans, all three losses were decided by four points or less.
Let’s look at who we have winning the 9-10 game.
Justin Quinn, Celtics Wire:
The theory of a healthy Zion Williamson and his impact on the league will likely have to wait until next season yet again with Williamson’s hamstring likely to keep the star forward on the bench throughout the play-in and beyond. Without his presence on the court, I have to lean toward a sneakily dangerous Thunder squad with OKC on a two-game streak heading into the postseason.
Prediction: Thunder 107, Pelicans 101
Ky Carlin, Sixers Wire:
The Pelicans have had to battle through yet another Zion Williamson injury. This is nothing new; they have had to overcome his absence in the past. The Thunder are going to be a very dangerous team considering how terrific Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been this season, but New Orleans has play-in and playoff experience.
Prediction: Pelicans 111, Thunder 106
Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire:
The Thunder have to be praised for arguably overachieving this season despite a young and lacking supporting cast around Shai-Gilgeous Alexander. However, with Brandon Ingram, C.J. McCollum and some nice role players, the Pelicans have more balance, as well as the playoff experience the Thunder lack. In addition, New Orleans won the season series, 3-1, over Oklahoma City.
Prediction: Pelicans 110, Thunder 103
Sharif Phillips-Keaton, Nets Wire:
At the time of this writing, the Pelicans are a 5.5-point favorite over the Thunder according to BetMGM. New Orleans has been a story of what ifs as their top two players, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, have missed a combined 90 out of a possible 164 games (54.8%). However, Ingram is healthy and is playing some of his best basketball. The Thunder were surprisingly competitive this season, but they may not have enough shot creation and experience to gain the upper hand over the Pelicans.
Prediction: Pelicans 115, Thunder 113
Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire:
New Orleans is at home and has more playoff experience. But without Zion Williamson, there’s a strong case to be made that Shai-Gilgeous Alexander may be the best “closer” on the floor if the game is close in the final minutes. I’ll take the Pelicans to narrowly win at home, but the Thunder to cover in a game that could be very competitive.
Prediction: Pelicans 109, Thunder 105
Clemente Almanza, Thunder Wire:
All eyes will be on the Thunder for the first time since this rebuild began in 2020.
While the Thunder lost three of four games against the Pelicans this season, all three losses were by four points or fewer and one went to overtime.
Two of those games featured the Thunder trailing by 20-plus points. If OKC can avoid another slow start against the Pelicans, I think they manage to move on to the next play-in game for the eighth seed.
Which I think will happen. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will show a national audience why he’s been a top-five player this season and lead the young Thunder to an upset win.
Prediction: Thunder 112, Pelicans 107
