On April 28, 2024, Beijing time, the NBA playoffs ushered in the third game between the Pelicans and the Thunder.
The Thunder started Alexander, Holmgren, Giddey, Jalen Williams and Dort, and the Pelicans started Ingram, McCollum, Murphy, Jones and Valanciunas.
In the first quarter of the game, just 30 seconds into the opening game, Jalen Williams suffered an injury and was forced to leave the game early! The Pelicans put enough pressure on the defensive end and started the game with a 7-2 start, the Thunder relied on Wallace to shoot a three-pointer, and Giddey scored inside with an empty cut. The two sides pushed the pace of the game very fast, but unfortunately the Pelicans kept shooting and the Thunder Wallace and Holmgren scored back-to-back points to overtake the score.
Then the Pelicans still didn't summarize the losses in the past two games, Ingram was difficult to face Dort's offense, but still didn't have to block and dismantle to make substitutions to play, Joe threw three points, Jaylin Williams threw and scored, the difference was stretched to 5 points, Ingram finally relied on a single Joe to score two plus one, but immediately let Jaylin Williams return a three-pointer, Alexander broke through and caused a foul free throw to score. The Thunder wanted to open the trend of the score, but fortunately, Nance hit the first three-point shot, which slightly helped the Pelicans stabilize the situation, and the Pelicans trailed the Thunder 19-23 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter of the game, Nance made a foul under the basket and scored free throws, Jalen Williams returned to the court, looking fine, and scored on a single shot under the basket, McCollum missed the shot, and Giddey converted to score an easy layup. Alvanado missed consecutive three-pointers, Nance grabbed an offensive rebound to complete a dunk, Jalen Williams scored four points in a row, Marshall and Jones were released to shoot three-pointers, Wiggins made up for a dunk, Giddey threw three points, and the two sides began to play each other.
Then the Pelicans' Murphy continued his touch, Alexander returned to the court to score alone, Wiggins scored a rebound, Valanciunas scored a backhand layup, the Thunder missed consecutive layups, Valanciunas converted offense and was fouled, and missed the equalizer with 1 point on a free throw. Alexander singled out Ingram for a three-pointer at the buzzer, Ingram wanted to return a mid-range shot, Dort converted the offense and hit two three-pointers in a row, and in less than a minute, the Thunder went on a 9-0 run to stop the Pelicans.
After the timeout, McCollum missed a three-point shot, and there was no mid-range shot, Dort converted a three-point shot to continue to shoot, Alexander broke through to score a layup, and the Thunder continued the offensive climax 14-0! Finally, Murphy scored two points, a drop in the bucket, and the Thunder led the Pelicans 60-46 at halftime.
In the second half of the game, the Pelicans switched to a small lineup, directly replacing Valanciunas with Nance, and the offense improved, Ingram and McCollum both scored three points, but unfortunately there were more mistakes, and there were four turnovers in less than 4 minutes. The Thunder relied on three-pointers during this period, with Giddey, Holmgren and Dort each hitting a three-pointer.
After the timeout, Alexander scored six points in a row, and this timeout interrupted the Pelicans' offensive touch, and during this time, he relied on CJ to score 2 points, so that the Pelicans themselves called a timeout. After the pause, McCollum broke through to score a layup, blocked Jalen Williams in the defensive round, the Pelicans had a clear idea of substitution, without Alvanado and Valanciunas, so that the lineup remained flexible, but unfortunately then missed consecutive shots, Jalen Williams scored three points, converted the offense and released Joe, three points were steadily shot, Jalen Williams also scored three points from a long distance, and the last offense still relied on Ingram to return to the court, facing the defense and throwing three points at the whistle, and the Pelicans trailed the Thunder by 16 points at the end of the third quarter 69-85!
In the final quarter of the game, the Pelicans were forced to replace Alvanado again, and in the first round, Holmgren was fouled and scored 1 point, Alvanado did not let him handle the ball, Marshall made a mistake in passing, Jalen Williams hit three points! Marshall shot iron in the middle, and Ingram didn't touch the ball in a few rounds on the court! More let Alwana shoot more three-pointers, but unfortunately hit the iron continuously! McCollum missed two consecutive strong shots after McCollum came on the court, Giddey made a three-point shot against the Nance defense, and the difference came to 23 points!
At the 4-minute mark, Ingram finally made his first shot of the quarter, resulting in a foul free throw. Ingram made a pass error, and Alexander assisted Giddey to continue to shoot a three-pointer to seal the win, and finally the Thunder defeated the Pelicans 106-85, and the Thunder led the Pelicans 3-0 in the series.
Full-time player stats
Pelicans: Ingram had 19 points, five rebounds and 1 assist on 7-of-14 shooting and 2-of-3 three-pointers, McCollum had 16 points, five rebounds and seven assists on 7-of-22 shooting and 2-of-8 three-pointers, Jones had 15 points, six rebounds and one assist, Murphy had 10 points, six rebounds and two assists, Valanciunas had seven points and four rebounds, Nance had nine points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Marshall had five points and two rebounds.
Thunder: Alexander shot 8-of-20 from the field and 1-of-5 from three-point range to finish with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals, Jalen Williams 21 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, Giddey 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, Dort 12 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, Holmgren 6 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks, Aaron Wiggins 6 points and 3 rebounds, Joe 6 points.
Full game summary
Judging from the course of the game, the Pelicans are in a dilemma, and the head coach has been torn between using Valanciunas and not using Valanciunas, using Valanciunas to score under the basket in some rounds, but the defense will be torn apart by the Thunder's push and fast offense, and Valanciunas is not tall enough inside.
However, is the Pelicans' problem really just a problem of a center? The offensive means are single, the star is insufficient, the shooting rate is extremely low, the rotation lineup basically can't play, etc., so many problems are not solved, but to entangle the point of a center. Especially the two cores of Ingram and McCollum, there have been three games in the series, and neither of them has stepped up in a single game to carry the team on the court.
On the other hand, the Thunder, Alexander has had an outbreak, Holmgren has also had an outbreak, Giddey and Jalen Williams have also ushered in an outbreak in this game, there is offense, there is cooperation, and there is more enthusiasm, such a thunder, what will the Pelicans take to win?
#头条创作挑战赛#
#NBA季后赛#