The Thunder ended a rare losing streak at two games, fending off the Pelicans for a comfortable but hard-fought win at home. Oklahoma City's players outside of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finally shot well enough to reward their defensive standard of excellence ("and company" converted 49.1% from the floor, 37.1% from three), with role players and co-star Chet Holmgren earning the win in the decisive stretch of the third and fourth quarters.
Still down a group of injured players who could be starters competing for a playoff berth on their own (Ajay Mitchell, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein), OKC turned in another admirable defensive performance while surviving a lopsided turnover and rebounding deficit.