Pelicans at Thunder
The New Orleans Pelicans will be without All-Star forward Anthony Davis when they visit the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. The club announced Thursday that Davis will miss the final four games due to the back injury that has either sidelined him or limited his play dramatically since he was hurt in late March. Oklahoma City can all but clinch the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference with a victory, which would be its 10th straight over the Pelicans.
The Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Clippers – the third-place team in the West – on Thursday and are three games behind San Antonio for the top spot in the West. Point guard Russell Westbrook led the way against the Clippers with 30 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as Oklahoma City overcame a subpar 8-of-26 shooting night from Kevin Durant (27 points). New Orleans lost to the Phoenix Suns 94-88 as the starting group scored just 35 points. The Pelicans have lost four straight road games since a win at Atlanta on March 21.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN New Orleans, FSN Oklahoma (Oklahoma City)
ABOUT THE PELICANS (32-46): Rookie center Jeff Withey will receive a lot of playing time over the final four games and he displayed why New Orleans is high on his abilities by scoring a season-high 17 points against Phoenix. “His biggest deal now is playing NBA minutes and keeping his condition,” coach Monty Williams told reporters. “There are possessions where he’s hurting a little bit. So once he gets his conditioning up, the way we’ve explained it to him: This is his season. From here until summer league, he’s going to be playing big minutes.”
ABOUT THE THUNDER (57-21): Westbrook was fresh against the Clippers after being rested one night earlier against Sacramento and missing two of the previous three games to keep his troublesome knee healthy. He had two key offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter, one in which he slammed home the putback dunk. With another victory Friday, Oklahoma City will be three games up on Los Angeles with three to play — but because the teams split the season series the Thunder can't clinch just yet.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Thunder defeated the Pelicans 109-95 in New Orleans on Dec. 6 and the teams will meet again in the Big Easy on Monday.
2. Oklahoma City F Serge Ibaka had four blocks against Clippers after going two games without one for the first time since early November.
3. New Orleans G Eric Gordon (knee) was also shut down for the season Thursday and will undergo surgery next week.