Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans played a great NBA playoff game, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander emerging as the hero for the win by 96:94.
This marks a new experience and era under the leadership of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team, one of the youngest in the league, entered the playoffs as the top team in the Western Conference. They scheduled a series with the New Orleans Pelicans after the play-in tournament, with the Pelicans weakened by Zion Williamson’s absence due to injury from the game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The game started off intensely on both ends, with a focus on defense, resulting in only 34 combined points in the first quarter. The tight contest continued into the second quarter, with the Thunder trying to pull ahead, but the visitors performed well in both directions, leading to a 43-43 tie at halftime.
In the third quarter, the home team showed significant improvement offensively. Chet Holmgren came alive, and they finished this period with a six-point lead. The real drama unfolded in the closing minutes. The New Orleans Pelicans managed to equalize again, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s tough shot with 20 seconds left gave his team the lead. The visitors had a chance to win, but C.J. McCollum missed after Lu Dort played excellent defense.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the winning team with 28 points. Jalen Williams contributed 19 points, and Chet Holmgren recorded another double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Trey Murphy led the visiting team with 21 points, while C.J. McCollum added 20. Jonas Valanciunas also had a great game, scoring 13 points and grabbing 20 rebounds.
The next game is scheduled for the night between Wednesday and Thursday at 3:30 AM.