The team with the worst record in the Western Conference met the team with the conference’s best record Saturday night at the Smoothie King Center.
For those not in the know, it didn’t take long to figure out which was which.
The New Orleans Pelicans fell in a deep hole early, then found some life late to make this 119-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder look more respectable than it was.
Making matters worse, Brandon Ingram left the game with a left ankle injury in the first minute of the second half.
The same Thunder team that swept the Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs last season continued their dominance.
The Pelicans (5-19) came into the game having lost to the Thunder seven of the last eight times they’ve played. That includes the playoff sweep last season, the play-in tournament two seasons ago and a 106-88 loss in Oklahoma City in mid-November.
The Pelicans also had lost six straight games against the Thunder in the Smoothie King Center, including the postseason. Now make it seven. Not even the addition of Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones and CJ McCollum - the trio that missed the November game- was enough to help the Pels end their slide against one of the top defenses in the league.
OKC (18-5) has the NBA's best defensive rating. They've held opponents to just 42.3 % shooting from the floor this season, tops in the league. The Thunder’s 12 steals per game also is a league-best.
“The biggest thing is you have to take care of the basketball,” Green said before the game. “They turn teams over and that fuels their opportunities to get out on the break. They are a good defensive team, so we’ve got to be sound with the basketball.”
Easier said than done. The Pelicans committed six turnovers in the first six minutes and found themselves trailing 10-0 hole and then 20-5 one. The Pels trailed 77-51 at the half, falling behind by as many as 30 at one point. The 77 points tied for the most the Pelicans had given up in a half this season. Ingram's injury came 17 seconds into the half when he landed awkwardly and had to be helped to the locker room by teammates Yves Missi and Trey Jemison.
OKC guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, whose 29.8 points per game, ranks fourth best in the league was halfway to his average by the end of the first quarter. He scored 16 of his 31 points in the opening quarter, with 12 of those points coming on layups as he got to the basket with ease.
Murray scored 26 points and Jones had 24 to lead the Pelicans, who will play at the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday on the second night of a back-to-back.