The Oklahoma City Thunder appeared to be a young squad in their first postseason game together only a few days ago.
They had the appearance of seasoned playoff veterans on Wednesday night.
With 33 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the top-seeded Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 to grab a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference playoff series in the first round.
Gilgeous-Alexander stated that the Thunder didn’t let outside factors, like other highly seeded teams having trouble at home, distract them from their game plan.
He remarked, “I think it just comes down to us prioritising winning.” And each of those items is a diversion that prevents victory. All fifteen of us go to bed each night hoping to win the following game and the next day. And we make every effort to achieve this.
The Thunder, who shot 59% from the field and nailed 14 of 29 3-pointers, were led by Chet Holmgren, who finished with 26 points and seven rebounds, and Jalen Williams, who scored 21 points.
For the Pelicans, Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points, while Herb Jones and Brandon Ingram each contributed 18 points.
The Pelicans outrebounded the Thunder 52–44 in Game 1 thanks to 20 rebounds from Valanciunas, nine of which were offensive. Oklahoma City held the Pelicans to eight offensive boards on Wednesday, outrebounding New Orleans 37–35.
With leading scorer Zion Williamson sidelined due to a strained left hamstring, the Pelicans’ offensive woes persisted. As Oklahoma City’s Lu Dort tormented Ingram all night long in Game 2, the second-best scorer for New Orleans during the regular season only managed 10 shots. In Game 1, Ingram only made five out of seventeen field goals.
Moreover, the Thunder capitalised on 18 turnovers by New Orleans for 22 points.
After Holmgren scored 13 points in the first seven minutes, Valanciunas scored 11 points in the first three minutes.
Holmgren left off where Gilgeous-Alexander left off. After going scoreless for the first nine minutes of the quarter, he scored seven points in the last three minutes to give the Thunder a 35–22 advantage. In any quarter of a playoff game, Holmgren’s 15 points were the highest scored by a rookie for the Thunder.
At the break, Oklahoma City was ahead 63–50. Before the half, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 16 points and Holmgren scored 20.
By the end of the third quarter, the Thunder had increased their lead to 92-74. In the fourth quarter, the Thunder was up 120-86, and Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren were benched permanently.
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