The Oklahoma City Thunder are looking for a season series sweep as they travel to the Big Easy. It’ll be unlike their three previous meetings, though, as beastly rookie Zion Williamson is now in the mix.

HOME TEAM: New Orleans Pelicans (23-31, 11-16 at home)

The Pelicans head to the contest having won three in a row and six of their last eight games. All victories featured the offense feasting on the opposition as it lit up the scoreboard for 129 points per game.

The scoring onslaught is just what the Pels need for tomorrow. They have only scored 104 points in each of the past three matchups with OKC.

Zion Williamson is the talk of the town since making his delayed debut in late January. With averages of 21 PPG and 7.7 RPG on 57.6 FG%, he punched up his name in exclusive categories after just 12 games. Among those is becoming only the fourth teenager in NBA history to have five-straight games with 20 or more points, joining an elite company that has LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Luka Doncic.

With Brandon Ingram (ankle) possibly missing his third-straight game, Jrue Holiday is the next scoring threat of New Orleans. He has 18.7 PPG and 5.3 APG in three games against the Thunder this season. JJ Redick, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart, who are all posting double-digit PPG numbers in the season series, round out the list.

ROAD TEAM: Oklahoma City Thunder (33-22, 15-10 on the road)

The Thunder are now on a two-game skid after recently going on a 9-1 stretch. The two losses featured poor play down-the-stretch – against the Boston Celtics (112-111), they shot just 40.9% in the fourth quarter and committed a turnover in the crucial final seconds; then against the San Antonio Spurs (114-106), they opened up the final period allowing a 10-2 run and was never able to recover.

With their trio of wins over the Pelicans, however, the gritty OKC bunch will still have its heads high. Dennis Schroder (19.7 PPG), Danilo Gallinari (18.7 PPG), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (16.7 PPG), are the Thunder’s top three scorers in the season series, followed by Steven Adams (15.5 PPG, 11 RPG, 2 BPG), who’s parading sold double-double numbers on an efficient 72.2%-shooting.

Floor general Chris Paul (12.7 PPG, 7.3 APG) has been pretty average in the three matchups, but he’s heading to the game posting 25 points on 61.4%-shooting in his last three, so that’s something to consider.

PREDICTION:

It will be a good showdown between offense and defense, and I expect the Thunder’s slow-paced, rhythm-disrupting style to prevail again. They sweep the season series through balanced scoring and a hounding defense, 118-109.