85-106! After returning to their home court, the New Orleans Pelicans still failed to find their form, and were pressed and beaten by the Thunder for almost the whole game, and finally lost to the opponent 85-106, and the overall score of the series was rewritten to 0-3, and there was little hope of advancing to the next round.
In this game, McCollum played 34 minutes, hitting only 7 of 22 shots, 2 of 8 three-pointers, and only scored 16 points, 5 rebounds and 7 assists in the whole game, while also having 6 turnovers and 2 fouls, and the data shows that when he was on the floor, the Pelicans lost by 13 points.
And this game is just a microcosm of McCollum's poor performance in the entire series.
In the regular season this season, McCollum played 66 games for the Pelicans, averaging 20 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, shooting 45.9% from the field, 42.9% from three-point range, and 82.7% from the free throw line.
So far, in three games, he has only averaged 17 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game, with an overall shooting rate of only 37.9% and a three-point shooting rate of only 22.9%.
With Zion injured and Ingram also struggling with injuries, McCollum has high expectations from the team and he needs to take on more responsibility on the offensive end. However, the truth is that his offensive efficiency is extremely low, he has many mistakes, and his playmaking tandem is not good enough.
On the defensive end, due to his size, his ability is limited and he can't provide enough help to the team. As an offensive player, if you can't score, it's basically a side effect on the field. To a certain extent, McCollum's sluggish state on both offensive and defensive ends has led to a situation where the Pelicans are powerless against the Thunder.
This situation raises questions about the Pelicans' future roster adjustments: Will McCollum stay with the Pelicans this summer?
For the Pelicans, both Zion and Ingram are not bad, but there are always some injury issues that prevent the team from playing with a full roster, and in addition, neither Zion nor Ingram have the attributes of playmaking to bring the whole team together to produce the greatest chemistry, they need a third star who can score and play together, in other words, they need a reliable backcourt commander.
McCollum is clearly not the right choice!