Smoothie King Center Battle: New Orleans Pelicans Host Oklahoma City Thunder

As the New Orleans Pelicans prepare to host the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Smoothie King Center, fans can anticipate an intense matchup. The Pelicans have been showing a mix of resilience and areas for improvement in their recent games. With a current record of 17 wins and 13 losses, they are positioned as strong contenders in their conference.

In their last game against the Houston Rockets, despite a narrow loss with a final score of 104 to 106, the Pelicans demonstrated solid offensive capabilities. They outperformed the Rockets in points from turnovers (26 to 23) and bench points (28 to 19), showcasing depth in their roster. However, turnovers were an issue as they gave up possession 16 times compared to Rockets' more conservative number.

A previous victory over Cleveland Cavaliers with a score of 123 to 104 highlighted their offensive efficiency where they led for most of the game and had an impressive fast break performance with a conversion rate of over seventy percent. Their three-point shooting was also notable at approximately forty-three percent.

However, consistency is key for New Orleans as seen in another close encounter against Memphis Grizzlies which ended with them trailing by just two points (113-115). The team's ability to lead for significant portions of the game was overshadowed by turnovers and less effective defense compared to offense.

The upcoming game will be crucial for maintaining momentum within this tightly contested season. Fans should look forward to seeing if the Pelicans can capitalize on their home court advantage at Smoothie King Center where crowd support has historically played its part in energizing home performances.

The match is scheduled on January 27th at Smoothie King Center, New Orleans. Fans can catch all action live on BSNO network channel number 676-4 or attend it personally; tip-off is set for January twenty-seventh at eight PM local time (01:00 AM UTC).