Tonight, the Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the New Orleans Pelicans for the second time this season, hoping to improve to an NBA-best 14-1.
So far, the Thunder have lost just one game in 14 tries, just last week downing the Warriors and Lakers in succession, and issuing the Hornets another arm’s length loss.
Oklahoma City continues to have the best net rating in the league, posting the best defense by a wide margin with a top-five offense to boot. The Nuggets are hot on the their heels though ranking second in both categories, standing at a similarly good 10-2 on the season.
In order to keep team’s like Denver at bay, the Thunder will need to continue to beat up on the West’s lower-tier teams, and New Orleans fits into that at 2-11 at the bottom of the conference.
The Thunder have faced the Pelicans once this season, though they’re under a new head coach this time around following Willie Green’s firing. James Borrego is the interim coach.
Here are the injury reports for both the Thunder and Pelicans ahead of tonight’s game:
OKC Thunder injuries:
Alex Caruso — Questionable: Right hand
Thomas Sorber — Out: Right ACL
Nikola Topic — Out: N/A
Aaron Wiggins — Out: Left adductor strain
Jalen Williams — Out: Right wrist
Kenrich Williams — Out: Left knee
New Orleans Pelicans injuries:
NOT YET SUBMITTED
The Thunder continue to see a lengthy injury report, though a few players have come off or are slated to in the coming days.
Luguentz Dort finally made his return to play against the Hornets, and Alex Caruso is now listed as questionable after suffering a hand injury just minutes into him entering the game.
Caruso’s questionable designation is likely a good sign, as he could play tonight versus New Orleans. While the Thunder have plenty of defensive optionality on the perimeter in Dort and Cason Wallace, they’d always like to have Caruso wreaking havoc.
Oklahoma City continues to be without All-NBA forward Jalen Williams, who has yet to make his 2025-26 debut for OKC, though we’re now past the re-evaluation window for his follow-up procedure. That doesn’t necessarily mean Williams is close to a return-to-play, but he was previously in the home stretch prior to his second procedure.
Aaron Wiggins continue to deal with a left adductor strain, and Kenrich Williams remains out after his preseason arthroscopic procedure.
The Pelicans’ injury report has not yet been submitted.
The Thunder and Pelicans tip off at 7 p.m. CT tonight from Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, LA.
