04/25/24 12:30:00
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04/25 00:28 CDT Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 33 points lead Thunder past Pelicans
124-92 as OKC takes a 2-0 lead
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 33 points lead Thunder past Pelicans 124-92 as OKC
takes a 2-0 lead
By CLIFF BRUNT
AP Sports Writer
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) --- Just a few days ago, the Oklahoma City Thunder looked
like a young team struggling through their first playoff game together.
On Wednesday night, they looked like grizzled playoff veterans.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 points and the top-seeded Thunder beat the
New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western
Conference playoff series.
Gilgeous-Alexander said the Thunder remained focused instead of worrying about
outside issues such as other highly seeded teams struggling at home.
"I think it just goes back to us prioritizing winning," he said. "And all those
things are distractions that get in the way of winning. And every night, all 15
of us go to bed and want to win the next game, want to win the next day. And we
do everything we can to do so."
Chet Holmgren had 26 points and seven rebounds and Jalen Williams added 21
points for the Thunder, who shot 59% from the field and made 14 of 29
3-pointers.
Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and Herb Jones and Brandon Ingram added 18
each for the Pelicans.
In Game 1, Valanciunas had 20 rebounds, including nine offensive, and the
Pelicans outrebounded the Thunder 52-44. On Wednesday, Oklahoma City
outrebounded New Orleans 37-35 and held the Pelicans to eight offensive boards.
The Pelicans continued to struggle on offense without top scorer Zion
Williamson, who remained out with a strained left hamstring. Ingram, New
Orleans' No. 2 scorer in the regular season, got off just 10 shots in Game 2 as
Oklahoma City's Lu Dort harassed him throughout the night. Ingram made just 5
of 17 field goals in Game 1.
The Thunder also scored 22 points off New Orleans' 18 turnovers.
Game 3 is Saturday in New Orleans.
"Now, the challenge is to continue to grow and learn and improve with the
series because the Pelicans are going to improve," Thunder coach Mark
Daigneault said. "They're a good team that's going home and they're well
coached. They're going to get better. You know so we have to continue to get
better."
The pace picked up significantly from Sunday's game, which Oklahoma City won
94-92. The Thunder, who averaged 120.1 points in the regular season, were much
more comfortable with it.
"In the first game, I thought both teams were kind of calibrating," Daigneault
said. "And, tonight we had much quicker recognition of the way that they were
guarding us, where we wanted to attack, and we got to those things pretty well."
Valanciunas scored 11 points in the first three minutes, but Holmgren countered
with 13 points in the first seven minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander picked up where Holmgren left off. He didn't score for the
first nine minutes, then scored seven in the final three minutes of the quarter
to help the Thunder take a 35-22 lead. Holmgren's 15 points were the most by a
Thunder rookie in any quarter of a playoff game.
"I thought they turned up the pressure offensively," Pelicans coach Willie
Green said. "They got some early 3's and that opened the floodgates up for
them."
Oklahoma City led 63-50 at halftime. Holmgren scored 20 points and
Gilgeous-Alexander added 16 before the break.
The Thunder extended their lead to 92-74 at the end of the third, and
Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren went to the bench for good with the Thunder
leading 120-86 in the fourth.
"Tough one for us," Green said. "Give them credit, they took care of home
court. It was a dominant win for them. So we'll get home, we'll regroup and get
back after it."
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