With Hamidou Diallo down for 4-6 weeks with an injured elbow Billy Donovan has given those minutes of late to Abdel Nadar. After a nice a career high night in Portland scoring 23 points—Nadar had 19 impactful points off the bench to help lead the Thunder past the Zion-less and Lonzo-less Pelicans by a score of 109-104 Friday night inside the Peake.
Fellow bench mate Dennis Schroder added 25 points as the Thunder improved to 7-11 with their second win of the season versus the Pelicans.
Again…some nice luck for the Thunder as they’re catching New Orleans while they don’t have Zion Williamson available due to injury.
I wanted to post Nadar’s highlights because he’s a hard working kid who’s going out there and doing his best to carve out a niche for himself at the NBA level. I respect his work ethic and hope he continues to improve night in and night out as this very long season of tanking for a high lottery pick goes thru the winter into spring.
For the most part this season that’s what I’m hope to do on my blog in regards to the Thunder–look for those spots here and there which are positive or should be recognized. It’s not like I’m turning a Little Nick Gallo leaf or anything—it just makes no sense to get upset when the need is obvious. The Thunder need a high lottery pick and one who will develop as a star level player for Sam Presti and Clay Bennett down the road.
Next up…another matchup versus the Pelicans on Sunday afternoon in New Orleans.