Jalen Williams scored 31 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 29 and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the short-handed New Orleans Pelicans 106-88.

"I thought we played with better force in the second half offensively," Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. "I thought we were a little sluggish in the second quarter on offense. And our physicality 42 minutes on was really good tonight.

How not having Alex Caruso against the Pelicans adds more problems for the Chet Holmgren-less Thunder. Competing without Chet Holmgren became more complicated for the Oklahoma City Thunder as Alex Caruso was ruled out before their matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Oklahoma City Thunder will host the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday. It'll be the season's first matchup between the teams. The contest will be shown to a national audience on ESPN. The Thunder (9-2) continue their season-long six-game homestand.

The Nets announced on Tuesday that Finney-Smith is questionable for Wednesday's home game against the Boston Celtics (9-2) due to a left ankle sprain. The ankle injury kept Finney