Oklahoma City Thunder (40-42, 10th in the Western Conference) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (42-40, ninth in the Western Conference)
New Orleans; Wednesday, 9:30 p.m. EDT
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK NBA LINE: Pelicans -5; over/under is 228
PLAY-IN GAME: The Pelicans and Thunder square off with the winner advancing to play for the eighth seed.
BOTTOM LINE: The New Orleans Pelicans and the Oklahoma City Thunder meet for the NBA Playoffs Play-In Tournament. The winner advances in the tournament to play for the eighth seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.
The Pelicans are 29-23 in Western Conference games. New Orleans ranks ninth in the league with 53.3 points in the paint led by Zion Williamson averaging 19.1.
The Thunder are 25-27 in conference games. Oklahoma City ranks seventh in the Western Conference with 14.6 fast break points per game led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averaging 3.9.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jonas Valanciunas is shooting 54.7% and averaging 14.1 points for the Pelicans. Brandon Ingram is averaging 29.0 points over the last 10 games for New Orleans.
Jalen Williams is scoring 14.1 points per game and averaging 4.5 rebounds for the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 22.0 points and 3.5 rebounds over the last 10 games for Oklahoma City.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pelicans: 7-3, averaging 117.0 points, 45.0 rebounds, 26.6 assists, 7.7 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 49.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 108.8 points per game.
Thunder: 4-6, averaging 116.4 points, 42.7 rebounds, 23.6 assists, 8.1 steals and 2.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 118.1 points.
INJURIES: Pelicans: E.J. Liddell: out (knee), Zion Williamson: out (hamstring), Jose Alvarado: out (tibia).
Thunder: Luguentz Dort: day to day (shoulder), Chet Holmgren: out for season (foot), Aleksej Pokusevski: day to day (knee), Kenrich Williams: out for season (wrist), Jaylin Williams: day to day (back), Jalen Williams: day to day (wrist).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
