The NBA playoffs continue, in the past 1 week, the East and West playoffs have moved in two directions, the situation in the East is becoming more and more complicated, the Celtics and the Heat, the two teams with the largest difference in strength on paper, the first two games are 1-1, the Bucks are 1-2 behind the Pacers, Lillard is also injured, and the house leak coincides with overnight rain. In the dark horse battle between the Cavaliers and the Magic, the Magic stubbornly chased the score to a 2-2 draw, and the performance of several groups of teams in the East was between the two sides. In contrast, the Lakers and Suns in the West are on the verge of exiting, the Clippers are 1-2 behind the Mavericks, and several big teams are not having a good time. In the first two games, the Thunder G1 won by 2 points and G2 won by 32 points, both of which only allowed the Pelicans to score 92 points, and the Thunder gradually got better.
According to the American media, Zion's left hamstring injury is not serious enough to be reimbursed for the season, but he basically cannot return in the first round of the playoffs. Zion himself is also anxious, according to Charania's words, unless the Pelicans can eliminate the No. 1 Thunder in the West, the Pelicans management is expected to be able to provide Zion with a comeback window! In contrast, although the Thunder's interior confrontation and frame protection are relatively big shortcomings, the team's offensive firepower can cover up the lack of defense, and the Thunder's shooting percentage ranks first in the league in the playoffs! In addition, the American media revealed that Claxton, who became a free agent this summer, has become a key target for the Thunder. According to the modeling calculations given by the American media "BR", the probability of the Thunder advancing to the second round is 88.8%, and this group of series basically loses suspense.
Pelicans starters: McCollum + Herbert Jones + Ingram + Murphy + Valanciunas. Thunder starters: Alexander + Keady + Dort + Jewe + Holmgren. At the beginning of the game, Jay Wei was hit in the face, and the Thunder quickly called a stoppage for substitutions. Ingram jumper + Jones dunk + Murphy hit a three-pointer, the Pelicans felt good overall, Alexander and Keady took turns to break through the singles, and Holmgren ate cakes and dunked. In the second half, Isaiah Joe and Jaylin blossomed inside and out, plus Alexander's outside shot, after the Thunder opened up the difference, Nance Jr. and McCollum scored five points in a row to stop the bleeding, and the Thunder led the Pelicans 23-19 in the first quarter. At the beginning of the second quarter, Jewe's singles gradually widened the difference, and at the critical moment, the Pelicans' Marshall and Herbert Jones rained three-pointers, and Keady felt hot, but the Pelicans bench stubbornly bit the score.
In the middle of the period, when the Pelicans chased down only one point, Alexander named Ingram and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer, and then Dort hit three three-pointers in a row, plus Alexander and Jewe's confrontation layup, the Thunder opened up a 15-point difference. Fortunately, McCollum made a burst inside and outside shot at the end of the quarter to bite the score, and the Thunder led the Pelicans 60-46 at halftime. At the start of the second half, McCollum and Holmgren exchanged three-pointers, but Dort and Keady began to bomb from the outside again, but fortunately, Ingram and McCollum bit the score. The two sides maintained about 10 points in the middle of the game, but in the second half, Jawell and Isaiacho hit three three-pointers from the outside, the Pelicans offense was dumb, and Ingram's three-pointer at the end of the quarter barely stopped the bleeding! At the end of the third quarter, the Thunder led the Pelicans 85-69.
In the fourth quarter of the decisive battle, Jawell and Keady's unreasonable three-point shots couldn't stop, and the Pelicans couldn't catch up at all, Ingram's free throws were a cup of water, Keady raised his hand to hit a three-pointer, and the counterattack made an easy layup to continue to score, and the Thunder opened up to 24 points! Ingram and Herbert Jones continued to chase points, but in the last 3 minutes, the Pelicans replaced the main force and surrendered! The game entered garbage time, and finally the Pelicans lost to the Thunder 85-106 at home, and the Thunder led the Pelicans 3-0 and got the first-round series point.
Pelicans statistics, Macklem 16 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 turnovers, Murphy 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, Ingram 19 points and 5 rebounds, Herbert Jones 15 points and 6 rebounds, Nance 9 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. Thunder statistics, Alexander 24 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals, Keady 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Jay Wei 21 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals, Holmgren 6 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, Dort 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Zion is not there, and the difference in strength between the two teams is too obvious. In addition to the two stable scoring points of Alexander and Jayway, Holmgren, Keady and Dort, all have the ability to break out in turns, and the Pelicans can't defend themselves. As for the Pelicans themselves, McCollum's ceiling is very limited, the defensive end is targeted at singles to consume a lot of energy, the offensive end feels unstable, and there are too many key mistakes! Ingram feels warmer, but it is too late, the big score is 0-3 behind, and it is only a matter of time before he is out. Congratulations to the Thunder, like the Nuggets and Timberwolves, they are crushed by hard power, and they deserve to be the first in the West in the regular season.