Thunder Rolling Out the G-League Squad While Pelicans Phone It In – Hammer the Under

If you're tuning in for October basketball fireworks, you picked the wrong game. The Thunder are treating this preseason opener like a glorified practice session, sitting their entire projected starting five—Shai, Jalen Williams, Chet, Hartenstein, and Cason Wallace—plus Alex Caruso. That's basically the whole rotation that matters. What you're getting instead is a parade of camp bodies, two-way contracts, and guys fighting for the final roster spots who'll jack up contested threes like their lives depend on it (spoiler: they'll miss most of them).

New Orleans isn't exactly bringing the heat either. Preseason means limited minutes for anyone who matters, lots of substitutions, and offensive sets that look like they were drawn up in crayon. The market hung 225.5 on this thing like it's a real game—it's not. Preseason contests with this many absences routinely fall 15-20 points short because shooting percentages nosedive, nobody has rhythm, and coaches are more interested in evaluating talent than running actual offense.

DarkHorse likes the under at 225.5 with solid confidence, and frankly, it feels generous. Expect a clunky, disjointed slog where both benches get emptied and the final score looks more like a college game. Take the under and don't overthink it.