Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit some clutch buckets to lift the Thunder to a two-point win over the Pelicans.
The Oklahoma City Thunder put together a phenomenal and surprising season to earn the 1-seed in the Western Conference, but for just about the entire roster, the playoffs were an unknown territory. Their first round matchup is with the New Orleans Pelicans, and the two teams lived up to their billing as defensive-minded teams in the opener, as the Thunder escaped with a 94-92 Game 1 win in an absolute rock fight in OKC.
Offense was hard to come by all night for both teams, as the Thunder shot 43.5 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three, which was better than New Orleans’ 38.5/28.2 shooting split on the evening. The way the Pelicans hung in the game was on the offensive glass (18 offensive boards to eight from OKC), where they dominated early to get second chance opportunities and also limited the Thunder’s ability to push the pace in transition.
The two teams were tied at 43 after two quarters, as there were playoff jitters from both teams on offense as well as just some incredible defensive lineups thrown out there by both coaches. The second half saw the Thunder look like they were getting set to run away, as a Chet Holmgren three in the fourth quarter put OKC up by 10 with 10 minutes to play.
Chet Holmgren gives OKC their biggest lead of the night from beyond the arc ????
Game 1 of the #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google Pixel is LIVE on TNT pic.twitter.com/fHygjdlXxj
NBA (@NBA) April 22, 2024
However, the Pelicans had a response, as they whittled away at the lead in the middle of the quarter, with CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram finally finding a little life to give the Pelicans a 90-88 lead.
CJ McCollum sinks the transition 3-pointer to cut the NOP deficit to 3 points in the 4th quarter on TNT! pic.
