In a day filled with chaos across the league as teams jockey for playoff positioning one final time, OKC enjoyed an impromptu celebration of one of the greatest regular seasons in NBA history in front of a half-filled New Orleans crowd.
The Oklahoma City Thunder savored a 115-100 win over the helpless New Orleans Pelicans in their regular-season finale. It was another wire-to-wire victory as the former led by as many as 23 points.
Both teams sent out their bench to play this game out of necessity but for different reasons. The Thunder had nothing at stake as they clinched the first seed a month ago. The Pelicans also had nothing at stake as they just wanted to clock out for the last time in a miserable season that'll likely result in a clean house.
The Thunder had a fast start with an 11-2 run that forced the Pelicans to call a quick timeout. That didn't do much on the court. OKC exited the first quarter with a 38-19 lead. After that though, New Orleans uglified the game.
After being ruled out with ankle soreness after just two minutes, the Thunder missed Jaylin Williams' playmaking. They only scored 26 points in the second quarter and entered halftime with a decent — but not fearful — 64-49 lead over the Pelicans.
After the break, the Pelicans came out hot with a 13-5 run. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl's 3-pointer made it a 71-65 contest with a little over seven minutes left in the third frame. Uh oh. The Thunder were on the verge of blowing a 23-point lead. Sure, it's in a glorified exhibition, but that'd still leave a bad taste in your mouth.
The Thunder ensured that wouldn't happen. They answered with a 19-7 run to close out the third quarter and exited with a 90-72 lead. Aaron Wiggins and Branden Carlson resembled vintage Kobe and Shaq against the Pelicans' G League squad.
The fourth quarter turned into storytime. If the Thunder had a bench to clear, they likely would’ve. Instead, the rest of the game took a backseat to OKC's broadcast crew reminiscing on one of the greatest regular seasons ever and preparing to talk about the playoffs despite holding very little information on who they'll face in Game 1 next week.
The Thunder shot 42% from the field and went 9-of-47 (19.1%) from 3. They shot 24-of-27 on free throws. They had 16 assists on 41 baskets. Five Thunder players scored double-digit points.
Wiggins led the way with an efficient 28 points. Carlson had a career game with a 26-point double-double. Kenrich Williams tallied 17 points and 12 rebounds. Isaiah Joe scored 17 points but went 2-of-11 from 3.
Meanwhile, the Pelicans shot 39% from the field and went 7-of-38 (18.4%) from 3. They shot 23-of-30 on free throws. They had 22 assists on 35 baskets. Six Pelicans players scored double-digit points.
Antonio Reeves led the way with 20 points and six rebounds. Jamal Cain had 18 points and Lester Quinones had 17 points off the bench. Jose Alvarado finished with 14 points and four assists. Robinson-Earl tallied 10 points and 16 rebounds.
Most folks probably had other games on different screens during this one. That's the fun of the ...
