NBA play-in preview: Pelicans vs. Thunder is a battle of size versus speed
Two future contenders square off in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 game in the West.
When the Pelicans host the Thunder, we'll see two young stars swiped from Los Angeles teams (Brandon Ingram and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander). We'll see what were two of the best defenses in the league this year, though OKC fell out of the top ten with a slump in the last few weeks.
And we'll see two teams who lost a potential superstar for the season to injury and made it to the play-in tournament regardless (Zion Williamson and Chat Holmgren).
Gilgeous-Alexander had a breakthrough season, averaging 31.4 points, 5.5 assists, 1.6 steals and even one block per game.
He leads the league with 23.9 drives per game, part of the reason he shoots nearly 11 free throws per game. That's how OKC survives with a remarkable lack of size.
The Thunder have been using 6-foot-10 rookie Jaylin Williams and 6-foot-10 Dario Saric to man the middle, after losing Kenrich Williams for the season with a wrist injury. They're last in the league in rebounds and third-worst in blocks, but they force the most turnovers in the NBA.
That's the biggest question for the play-in game: Can the Pelicans exploit their size advantage with center Jonas Valanciunas (14.1 points, 10.2 rebounds) and dominate the boards? Or will New Orleans force them to match them and play small ball?
New Orleans should have enough firepower with Ingram, Valanciunas and C.J. McCollum to match Gilgeous-Alexander's output. The question is whether they can control the boards and protect the ball enough in the face of the Thunder's swarming defense.
If the Pelicans take control early, they should be able to advance to face the Timberwolves Friday night. But the longer they let the young Thunder hang around, the more they'll believe they have a chance in this one. And in crunch time, Gilgeous-Alexander is very hard to stop.
We think the undersized Thunder will come up just short.
More must-reads: