On April 22, Beijing time, the Thunder played at home against the Pelicans, although the Pelicans successfully eliminated the King out of the game without Zion, but at this time the Thunder was the favored side, although the Thunder is very lacking in playoff experience, but the hard power of the Thunder is still here, Alexander's growth in this season is the key factor for the Thunder to become the first in the West, on the other hand, the Pelicans have lost a lot of strength after the lack of Zion, and the two teams have played against each other in at least 4 games in the playoffs, so it is undoubtedly very difficult for the Pelicans to reproduce the miracle of the playoffs at this time。
In the first quarter of the game, Holmgren took the lead in hitting three points, and then Varland also hit a basket throw, Jayway scored a layup and McCollum scored a layup, and Jones hit a three-point shot after Alexander hit a shot, and in the next game, Holmgren hit a three-point iron, but Ingram and McCollum offense also hit iron frequently, and then Wallan took the lead to help the Pelicans score, and the Pelicans led the Thunder by 2 points. After a timeout, McCollum hit a shot, Jones hit a three-point iron after Alexander's mistake, and then Alexander hit a shot to stop the bleeding, and the next game was chaotic between the two teams, but after Alexander scored, Jones also went to the free throw line to score 2 points, and Dort hit a three-point shot after the Thunder completed the overtake, but soon the Pelicans responded with a wave of 4-0, and Alexander scored a layup at the critical moment, and the two teams were tied in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Jay Wei shot and scored, but in the next game, Murphy and McCollum began to hit three points, and when the Pelicans were about to pull away the score, Wallace scored to stop the bleeding, Holmgren scored on the rebound, and then Jay Wei faced Marshall to score 2+1, Marshall hit three points at the critical moment, but Wiggins also hit three points, and then Marshall made up for the score, but in the next game, the two teams began to iron each other again, and then Jay scored first, and the Thunder tied the Pelicans. After a timeout, the Pelicans countered with Ingram to score, but Jaylin Williams hit a three-pointer, and the next game of the two teams alternated between the two teams' offensive bombardment, Wallace finally hit a three-pointer, but then Wallan also hit a shot, and in the final moments, Jayway hit a three-point iron, and the Thunder tied the Pelicans 43-43 at halftime.
In the first half of the game, the Thunder played a little difficult, although the Pelicans offensive state was not good, but the Pelicans still led to 7 points at one point, but when the Thunder offensive state was sluggish, Alexander was able to carry the team, and it was relying on Alexander's play in the game, so the Thunder, the first in the West, was able to catch up with the Pelicans in the game, and although Holmgren hit three points at the beginning, Holmgren was directly pulled in the next game, and Holmgren was also suppressed when facing Wallan, and at the end of the half, Holmgren got 7 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists in 3 of 9, and Alexander got 11 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist。
As for the Pelicans being able to play inextricably with the Thunder or because of their dominance on the inside, it's just that the Pelicans' offensive state in the game is not good, although they grabbed a lot of frontcourt rebounds, but unfortunately the Pelicans didn't really open the score, at the end of the half, Ingram got 8 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist, but Wallan really made a contribution in the game, after all, if it wasn't for Wallan's score on the inside, then the Pelicans may not necessarily play with the Thunder like this, at the end of the half, Wallan got 6 points, 10 rebounds and 1 assist。 And if the Pelicans really want to win this game, Varland needs to continue to maintain the inside advantage, not to mention, the Pelicans also need to find an outside three-point touch.