All the Oklahoma City Thunder need to do is win one more game and they’re going to the second round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. That is going to be easier said than done though in Game 4 against a desperate New Orleans Pelicans, who will look to keep their season alive this Tuesday.
Catch this game live on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 8:30 AM, Manila time
Away: Oklahoma City Thunder (3-0)
Projected Starting Five:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Josh Giddey
- Luguentz Dort
- Jalen Williams
- Chet Holmgren
The Thunder are just a win away in this series from sending the Pels to Galveston (as recommended by Charles Barkley). After a scary in Game 1 which they won by only two points, the Thunder seem to have New Orleans all figured out. Oklahoma City won Game 2 (124-92) and Game 3 (106-85) by a combined margin of 53 points, and that’s despite Chet Holmgren producing just six points on Sunday.
The Thunder just have plenty of weapons to fall back on when one isn’t having a great day offensively. Jalen Williams, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Josh Giddey each scored at least 21 points in Game 3, while OKC’s outside shooting continued to sizzle. As a team, the Thunder are shooting over 42 percent from deep and 50 percent from the field. And since no team has ever come back to win a best-of-seven series after falling into a 3-0 deficit, it’s high time for Oklahoma City to close it out this Tuesday.
Home: New Orleans Pelicans (0-3)
Projected Starting Five:
- CJ McCollum
- Brandon Ingram
- Trey Murphy III
- Herbert Jones
- Jonas Valanciunas
The Pelicans can start planning their trip to Galveston but don’t count them out just yet from winning at least a game in this series. There is still life in New Orleans. “It’s not over,” Pels head coach Willie Green said after Game 3. “Look, we’ve got another game here at home and we’re not going to fix all of our issues tonight. Go home, have a good meal and we’ll come back (Sunday) and practice and go over what we need to do and get ready for the next game.”
If the Pelicans are to win Game 4, they will have to be better in ball security after turning the leather 20 times on Sunday. They are averaging more than five turnovers in this series than Oklahoma City. That’s a lot of precious possessions wasted by the Pelicans, who have seen the total hit the Under in all of their last three games as the home team. Zion Williamson isn’t walking through the door just yet for the Pelicans, so they will definitely need the likes of CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram to bring their A-games. McCollum is averaging 17.0 points in the series but is shooting just 37.9 FG%, while Ingram is putting up 16.3 points on a horrid 41.5 FG%.
Picks
Spread: Oklahoma City Thunder (-5.0)
Over/Under: Under (205.0)
