Kevin Durant Scores 27 In Return But Oklahoma City Thunder Lose To New Orleans Pelicans, 112-104

Kevin Durant did not look rusty in his return to the line-up but the entire Oklahoma City Thunder still struggled defensively as the New Orleans Pelicans beat Durant and the Thunder, 112-104 on Tuesday night. Tyreke Evans exploded for 30 points— his season-high— on an effective 14-of-24 field goal shooting and Anthony Davis was his usual self contributing a double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds with 4 blocked shots.

Ryan Anderson scored 23 markers off the bench for the Pelicans, which improved to an even 8-8 record for the season. The Thunder continue their struggling despite having both Durant and Russell Westbrook in the active roster dropping to a 5-13 win-loss card tied with the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers for the second-worst record in the Western Conference.

The OKC star point guard had a good overall game of 21 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists but he missed 14-of-20 shots from the field and also had 7 turnovers. Combined, the Thunder duo turned the ball over a dozen times. As a team, the Thunder had 17 TOs. OKC is now 1-8 on the road this season.

The Thunder had little problem keeping up with the Pelicans offensively but they couldn’t stop Evans, Davis and crew especially in the second quarter when New Orleans outscored them 40-26. The Pelicans built a huge 17-point lead at halftime, 69-52 but the Thunder came back after the break. Oklahoma City cut it all the way down to six points, 88-82 with a little over 10 minutes to go in the quarter but the young Pelicans squad responded and built another double-digit lead. New Orleans snapped their three-game losing streak with the convincing victory.

Upcoming Schedule (Next 3 Games):

Oklahoma City Thunder: at Philadelphia 76ers, at Detroit Pistons, vs. Milwaukee Bucks

New Orleans Pelicans: at Golden State Warriors, at Los Angeles Clippers, at Los Angeles Lakers