NBA Playoff Preview First Round 2024: Oklahoma City Thunder v. New Orleans Pelicans
This 2024 NBA Playoff Preview first-round matchup between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans tips off Sunday, April 21 at 9:30 p.m. EST on TNT. It will be their It will be the first time these teams have ever met in the playoffs. (Playoffigami?) This season the Thunder took the regular season series with 2 wins and 1 loss. So, who comes out on top for the playoffs? Let’s get into it.
First, here’s the series schedule for this 2024 First Round playoff matchup:
| GAME | DATE | MATCHUP | TIME | TV |
| Game 1 | Sunday, April 21st | Pelicans @ Thunder | 9:30 p.m. ET | TNT |
| Game 2 | Wednesday, April 24th | Pelicans @ Thunder | 9:30 p.m. ET | TNT |
| Game 3 | Saturday, April 27th | Thunder @ Pelicans | 3:30 p.m. ET | TNT |
| Game 4 | Monday, April 29th | Thunder @ Pelicans | TBD | TBD |
| Game 5* | Wednesday, May 1st | Pelicans @ Thunder | TBD | TBD |
| Game 6* | Friday, May 3rd | Thunder @ Pelicans | TBD | TBD |
| Game 7* | Sunday, May 5th | Pelicans @ Thunder | TBD | TBD |
What to know about the Oklahoma City Thunder
Notable starters:
- G: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- G: Josh Giddey
- F: Luguentz Dort
- F: Jalen Williams
- C: Chet Holmgren
Other players in playoff rotation:
We start out this NBA Playoff Preview with the #1 seed in the Western Conference, the Thunder. This team has some of the best young players in the NBA and if you don’t recognize them, please start watching more basketball, especially the Thunder. This team is going to be a force to be reckoned with.
SGA is one of the best PGs in the NBA, not to mention an MVP candidate, and is entering his prime. Chet Holmgren has stayed healthy all season during his rookie campaign and looks fantastic. Josh Giddey is their do-it-all player. Lu Dort is THE defensive stopper on the team. Jalen Williams is a great offensive big on this team to pair with Chet. That’s just their young starting lineup, their bench has solid pieces as well. Cason Wallace plays great team defense and will be used to help clog up passing lanes and be an on-ball defender. Isaiah Joe, Gordon Hayward and Aaron Wiggins all provide good minutes off the bench and can score in double digits if need be.
This team has been a great regular-season team.
What to know about the New Orleans Pelicans:
Notable starters:
- G: CJ McCollum
- G: Brandon Ingram
- F: Trey Murphy III
- F: Herbert Jones
- C: Jonas Valanciunas
Other players in playoff rotation:
The next team in this NBA Playoff Preview is the Pelicans. I like this team a lot better when Zion Williamson is playing. But, after getting hurt in the play-in, the Pelicans will have to work without him. I personally have always been a fan of Brandon Ingram‘s game and consider him one of the most underrated players in the league.
But, other than that, this team doesn’t have a ton of star power when Zion is hurt. Sure, CJ McCollum gets you 20 points consistently, but are we really saying that he is in the same tier as Brandon Ingram or Zion? Jonas Valanciunas is good, but is nowhere near being a star of his inability to score more points. But, what this team lacks in star power, they compensate with depth.
This team should have probably been better than a play-in team, but the Western Conference is loaded and it just happened to fall that way. There are already rumblings that they could upset the Thunder in this series. Herb Jones is looking to start for Zion, while he can’t score like Zion, he can facilitate the ball and play defense which has worked for the Pelicans this season.
I could see a scenario where Larry Nance Jr. starts for Zion with his ability to rebound and be efficient when needing to score. Either way, both of those guys need to help fill the void that is left by Williamson. The good thing is that this team can throw different looks at you with Alvarado, Dyson Daniels and Naji Marshall. They can play with their lineup to see the best way to counter the young Thunder team.
Questions for this NBA Playoff Preview?
1.) Can the Pelicans fill the void left by Zion Williamson?
I alluded to it earlier with Larry Nance Jr. and Herbert Jones. Both have different strengths than Williamson has altogether. Those two will be heavily depended on to try to make a make-shift Zion with two people. If Herbert Jones can defend and facilitate, and Larry Nance Jr. can defend and grab rebounds, they might be able to mask the void left by Zion. Unfortunately, it will be hard to get that at the same time unless they are both on the floor, they can at least adjust and put one of them when they need that for the team.
2.) Will the Thunder’s inexperience be their downfall?
Experience matters in the playoffs. I’m sorry but it does. The guys that have been there before and have face the adversity of the playoffs understand. The Thunder haven’t, but that is okay. They’re way ahead of schedule and were the #1 seed in the Western Conference, they have already passed expectations. Hell, they can get swept and still have exceeded expectations. This is a young team and playoff experience is always baptism by fire.
The Thunder will sometimes look how they did in the regular season: Fluid, calm, and fun to watch. In the playoffs, there will be periods of the game(s) where they will play ugly basketball. Not a dig at them, but it happens in the NBA playoffs. How they respond to that and any adversity is how well they will do in this series and in the playoffs. That’s partially why they could be upset by the Pelicans in the playoffs. This is a good series for them to get solid playoff experience and if they win, they’ll be playing a much harder team in the Clippers or the Mavericks, yikes.
3.) Who is stopping Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
This is the real question for the Pelicans. Who do you put on Shai? You could put Brandon Ingram on him, his length and size could provide trouble for SGA. Conversely, Ingram could find himself in foul trouble and more tired, making it hard to score on the other end.
The Pelicans need Brandon Ingram’s scoring in the worst way, and putting him on SGA provides more problems than solutions. CJ McCollum can’t guard him, he is too much of a defensive liability to guard him. If I had to make the choice, it would be Herbert Jones; his length will be beneficial to trying to limit Gilgeous-Alexander.
Even if he does get in foul trouble, he won’t kill you offensively if you have to take him out. Limiting Shai and letting the other Thunder players beat you might be the Pelicans’ best course of action.
Prediction: Thunder in 7
I probably pick the Pelicans to win here if they have Zion Williamson. With him being out, that is just enough for me to pick the Thunder in seven games. I do think with the Thunder being so young, they will struggle closing out games and keep the Pelicans in games longer than they should. The Pelicans’ depth and versatility should also help them stay in the series as they can make adjustments to counter the Thunder. However, the Thunder should still win. They will get valuable playoff experience and get prepared to play a much harder matchup with the Mavericks or the Clippers. It’ll be interesting to see what the Pelicans do in the off-season if they lose this series.
Click Here for more NBA Content
Subscribe to Vendetta’s Twitch
Subscribe to Vendetta’s YouTube
Check out the Vendetta Shop
