Thunder vs. Pelicans: Three things to care about

The Thunder take on the Pelicans in Tulsa tonight, which features a matchup of two undefeated preseason teams. What a showdown! And it’s on TV!

(The game above: It was the day after the Thunder had agreed to the Tyson Chandler deal. It truly felt like a landmark day for the organization as things started to turn around. But Chris Paul beat the Thunder at the buzzer and 24 hours later, Chandler was no longer come to Oklahoma City.)

Three things to give two poops about:

1. Anthony Davis. Have you been seeing what he’s been doing? He’s absolutely torching people in preseason. Games of 23, 29, 21 and 25. He’s scoring efficiently from both inside and out, getting to the line and finishing in transition. He looks like a superstar. He’s been playing mostly power forward for the Pelicans, so it’ll be interesting to see him go against Serge Ibaka tonight.

2. Lamb. He needs a nice game. Not anything spectacular, but something like 5-10 for 14 points would really help him. I think he’s feeling the pressure a bit to produce and with each miss, a little siren goes off in his head. Making his first shot would sure give him a boost, and if it were a 3-pointer, even better.

3. Steven Adams’ turn. Perk is out again, so it’s Adams’ turn to start at center. (UPDATE: So Scott Brooks says Hasheem Thabeet is starting again.) Both he and Hasheem Thabeet were pretty solid in Tuesday’s game, but he’ll see bigger minutes tonight with Kevin Durant, Ibaka and Reggie Jackson. One thing to specifically key in on for Adams: Watch him screen. He just inhales people.

Tip at 7:00 CT and it’s on FS Oklahoma.