The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 122-116, at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Thursday evening.

To say the Pelicans (22-27) faced an uphill battle Thursday would have been one of the bigger understatements of the season. Already down perennial MVP candidate Anthony Davis (finger), New Orleans was further decimated by the absences of Julius Randle (ankle), Nikola Mirotic (calf) and E'Twaun Moore (rest). Nevertheless, the Pels came out swinging versus the Thunder (30-18), battling them to a 28-28 draw through the first 12 minutes. OKC did gain some distance by outscoring the visitors by a 70-54 margin during the middle periods, but the Pelicans managed to keep things interesting by getting as close as 121-116 with 1:38 remaining. However, they were unable to score the remainder of the way, and Darius Miller's misfire on a 27-foot three-point attempt with 2.4 seconds remaining sealed the win for the home squad.

Jrue Holiday paced the Pelicans with a 22-point, 13-assist double-double that also included nine rebounds, four steals and one block. Miller followed with 21 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one block. Jahlil Okafor turned in 18 points and eight boards. Cheick Diallo furnished 16 points, four boards, one steal and one block. Elfrid Payton stepped up with a 15-point, 12-assist double-double that also featured four rebounds, two blocks and one steal. Frank Jackson supplied 12 points, two assists and one rebound.

Russell Westbrook led the Thunder with a 23-point, 17-rebound, 16-assist triple-double that also included two steals. Paul George matched Westbrook's scoring total and added 11 rebounds, seven assists, one steal and one block. Steven Adams generated 20 points, 13 rebounds, two assists and one steal. Terrance Ferguson and Jerami Grant contributed matching 14-point, three-rebound tallies. Dennis Schroder led the bench with 10 points.

The Pelicans head back home to face the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday evening, while the Thunder remain home for an interconference showdown with the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday evening.