On April 22, 2024, Beijing time, in today's NBA playoffs, the Thunder ushered in the G1 battle with the Pelicans at home. Pelicans starters: CJ + Jones + Yingge + Murphy + Wallan, Thunder starters: Alexander + Giddey + Dort + Jalen + Chet.
In the first quarter of the game, Chet scored three points, Wallan responded with a mid-range shot, Jalen and Alexander scored, CJ and Jones responded, the two sides were 7-7, and then the two sides did not score for more than 2 minutes, Wallan and CJ scored 4 points in a row, the Pelicans led by 4 points, Alexander and Dort exceeded by 3 points, Yingge and Alvarado exceeded by 2 points, Alexander made a layup, and the two sides ended 17-17 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Jalen and Chet scored, CJ shot, Murphy hit 2 three-pointers, CJ shot three points, the Pelicans led by 8 points, Wallace, Chet, Jaylen tied the difference, Marshall scored 5 points in a row, Wiggins and Jaylen tied the difference, Yingge and Nance scored, Jaylin, Alexander, Isaiah Joe responded, the Thunder overtook 1 point, Yingge and Wallan scored, Wallace scored three points, and the two sides were 43-43 at halftime. Alexander had 11 points and 4 boards in the half, and Yingge had 8 points and 3 boards.
In the third quarter of the game, Varland tossed, Dort, Jalen scored 5 points in a row, the Thunder led by 3 points, Yingge and Murphy overtook 2 points, Jalen, Alexander, Chet, Giddey played 11-0, the Thunder overtook 9 points, CJ and Murphy chased the difference to 4 points, Alexander and Jalen expanded the difference to 8 points, Murphy, Nance and Alvarado 9-0 exceeded 1 point, Kenway, Alexander, and Isaiah Joe exceeded 6 points, and the Thunder led 74-68 in the third quarter. Alexander scored 10 points in the quarter.
In the fourth quarter of the game, Chet and Wiggins scored, Wallan chased the points, the difference was 7 points, Chet scored three points, the difference was 10 points, Murphy and CJ chased the difference to 3 points, Alexander, Jaylin scored, Murphy and CJ chased the points, the difference was 4 points, Jalen made 1 of 2 free throws, the Thunder led by 5 points, Nance, Jones, Yingge played 7-0 to lead by 2 points, and then both sides did not score for more than 2 minutes, Alexander scored 5 points in a row, the Thunder led by 3 points, there were 33 seconds left in the game, CJ shot in the middle of the shot, Chet made 2 free throws and 1 hit, the difference was 2 points, there were 14 seconds left in the game, CJ singled a three-point miss, and the game ended, and the Thunder narrowly beat the Pelicans 94-92.
Alexander had 28 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists on 11-of-24 shooting, Jalen had 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists on 8-of-18 shooting, Chet had 15 points, 11 boards, 2 assists and 5 blocks on 6-of-14 shooting, Dort had 6 points and 4 boards, and Wiggins had 6 points and 3 boards.
Yingge had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists on 5-of-17 shooting, and Murphy had 21 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists on 8-of-18 shooting (5-of-12 from three-point range), and played a surprise performance again after the play-offs, CJ21 scored 20 points, 3 rebounds and 6 assists on 9-of-21 shooting, Varland had 13 points, 20 rebounds and 2 assists, and Jones had 8 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.
Judging from this game, the strength of the two sides is close, and the Pelicans without Zion have the ability to compete with the Thunder, if Zion can come back in this series, with the Thunder's interior defensive resources, they can't block Zion's impact under the basket, and the Pelicans have the hope of playing the Black Eight. After this game, many people said that the Lakers are expected to be annoyed and regretful, if they don't fight for seventh in the West, but take eighth in the West, the Thunder should not be able to stop the Lakers, and now the Lakers have little chance of winning against the Nuggets, and they may have to travel in the first round.