On April 25, Beijing time, the final matchup of G2 in the first round of the 2023-24 NBA playoffs began. In the first seven matchups, one was a 1-1 draw, the Clippers 1-1 Mavericks, the Bucks 1-1 Pacers and the Green Army 1-1 Heat. In an Eastern Conference matchup that ended earlier, the remnants of the Heat scored a record 23 3-pointers to defeat the Green Army, causing a big upset. As the team at the top of the regular season rankings in the West, can the Thunder avoid the "Black Eight"? In this game, Zion is still hanging the exemption card, and the Thunder are all the main attackers.
The Thunder, who were playing at home in the first quarter, got into the groove faster and showed their impact on both the inside and outside. The outside line hit 7 3-pointers, and the shooting rate was close to 7 percent! The inside line opened the bombardment mode around the Pelicans' restricted area, shooting 6 of 11, and the shooting rate also exceeded 5 percent, and the whole team scored 35 points in a single quarter. To be able to make the Thunder play such a sharp offense in a single quarter, the Pelicans definitely have a problem on the defensive end. The defense couldn't hold it, and the Pelicans also struggled on the offensive end. In the first quarter, he only made 1 of 8 3-pointers from the outside, and the inside was also frequently hitting iron. At the end of the first quarter, the Thunder opened a 13-point gap at 35-22, and Holmgren felt hot in the first quarter, scoring 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting!
In the second quarter, the Pelicans both warmed up inside and outside, hitting four three-pointers, with a shooting rate of more than 50 percent! The inside line resolutely hit the basket, shooting 6 of 9, and the shooting rate was also not low, and he scored 28 points in a single quarter! However, as the team's leading star, Yingge only scored 4 points in the half, and his state was quite sluggish; the firepower of the Thunder outside declined, and he only shot 3 3-pointers, but he hit the inside line and scored repeatedly, and there was no missing shot under the basket. At halftime, the two teams were tied at 50-63, and the Thunder still led by 13 points;
Yibian fought again, Yingge began to strengthen his offense in this section, shooting 3 of 6, 6 of 6 free throws and scoring 12 points; Yingge opened, but other players did not continue to firepower, the Pelicans were still inaccurate on the outside, only 2 shots, and the whole team scored 24 points in a single quarter; The Thunder mainly hit the inside in this quarter, and only shot 1 3-pointer from the outside, and the difference was once stretched to 23 points, and the Thunder led by 18 points 92-74 after the third quarter;
In the final quarter, Varland broke through and scored a layup, and Holmgren responded with a basket! Jayway scored 5 points in a row, and the Thunder broke through 7-0 to stretch the difference to 23 points again, and also stopped the Pelicans! After the pause, the Thunder continued to exert force, and after a wave of 10-0 attacks, the difference came to 34 points, and the game basically lost suspense. After that, the Pelicans asked for a timeout to throw in the towel, and the Thunder then also called in to close, and the Thunder led 2-0.
Statistics:
In this game, the Thunder's starting 5 all scored double-doubles, SGA 33 points, 3 boards, 5 assists and 2 steals, Holmgren 26 points, 6 boards, 1 assist and 1 block, Jalen Williams 21 points, 5 boards, 8 assists and 1 steal, and three young people combined to score 80 points, 15 boards and 13 assists, and the performance was quite good! Giddey 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists, Dort 12 points, 1 board, 2 assists and 1 steal, Joe 8 points, 2 boards, 1 assist and 1 steal;
On the Pelicans' side, Yingge had 18 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block, Varland 19 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists, Jones 18 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist, CJ 15 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals, and Murphy 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.