Oklahoma City @ New Orleans preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 29, 2019 ) New Orleans 104, Oklahoma City 109

The Oklahoma City Thunder utilized a late run to get past the New Orleans Pelicans at home Friday night. They'll try to pick up a sweep of the home-and-home set when the teams meet again Sunday in the Big Easy.

After falling behind by eight points early in the fourth quarter, Oklahoma City rallied behind Dennis Schroder -- who scored nine of his 25 points in the final nine minutes -- to steal a 109-104 decision over the Pelicans. "I thought it was a really good team win, just because a lot of guys stepped up and contributed," coach Billy Donovan told reporters. "We did a fairly good job of closing the game out. I thought top to bottom, everybody that was out there really contributed in a big way." Brandon Ingram led the way for New Orleans with 26 points. Six others scored in double figures for the Pelicans, who lost their fourth straight game.

TV: 5 p.m. ET, FS Oklahoma, FS New Orleans

ABOUT THE THUNDER (7-11): After scoring a career-high 23 points at Portland on Wednesday, forward Abdel Nader added another 19 on 7-of-11 shooting in Friday's win. He is 7-for-9 from 3-point range during the two-game hot streak and needed just 39 minutes to score the 42 points in that span. "I'm really happy for him," Donovan said of Nader, whose opportunity arose when Hamidou Diallo suffered an elbow injury. "Because there's nobody that works harder or is more committed or is in the gym more than he is."

ABOUT THE PELICANS (6-13): New Orleans won the third quarter by a 31-17 margin Friday before fading late to fall to 2-8 on the road. "We had an opportunity to win it at the end," coach Alvin Gentry told reporters. "But we have to do a better job all together. Defensively, we had a few missed assignments at the end that cost us big. We've just got to be able to execute things at the end of the game defensively and offensively." Guard Lonzo Ball missed his second straight game with an illness while forward Derrick Favors remained out for personal reasons.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pelicans SG Kenrich Williams left Friday's game with a sprained ankle and is day-to-day.

2. Ingram has been held under 20 points one time this season and it came at Oklahoma City earlier in the season, when he left in the second quarter due to an injury.

3. Thunder G Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 11 points -- 7.3 below his season average -- while making 1-of-8 3-pointers over his last three games.

PREDICTION: Thunder 110, Pelicans 109