4-0! Another sweep to advance!Alexander 24+10, Yingge 14 in 2, the western pattern has changed dramatically
At half past eight in the morning on April 30, Beijing time, the first round of G4 battle between the Thunder and the Pelicans officially began! This is a life-and-death battle for the Pelicans, who are 0-3 behind. If they lose again, they will be completely over all the season! Will they go home fishing or continue the suspense of the series? The Pelicans have been forced by the Thunder to the point where there is no way out. If they don't want to become the second team to be swept out of the tournament after the Suns, the Pelicans can only defend their home dignity with all their might! Before the game, ESPN predicted that the Thunder G4 win rate was 60.8%, and the Pelicans were only 39.2%. So, will G4 be the Pelicans' last game of the season?
In this game, the Pelicans sent Jones + McCollum + Yingge + Murphy + Wallan to start, and the Thunder started as Alexander + Keady + Holmgren + Jalen Williams + Dort. At the beginning of the game, Dort's three-pointer rose and fell, Varland hit a hook shot, McCollum continued to shoot a three-pointer, Keady also made a three-point shot, Murphy hit a jumper, Jayway responded with a violent dunk, and the two sides were inseparable! Jaylin hit a three-point shot, Marshall responded with a three-point shot, Nance hit a shot, Alexander shot wide, and the first quarter ended with the Thunder 21-21 Pelicans.
In the second quarter, Varland took the lead in using free throws to score two points, Holmgren made a layup, Jones hit a basket, Jayway hit a jumper, McCollum hit a jumper, and Jayway responded with a layup! Wiggins made a layup + three points and scored five points in a row, and the Thunder took a five-point lead! Varan and Nance attacked one after another, Alexander scored a rebound, and Marshall made two free throws to close the score! Jawway scored 2+1, McCollum made a basket, Murphy opened his hand with three points, and the score was tied again! Holmgren licked the basket, McCollum dunked and scored, and Murphy rode a horse and shot wide, and the Thunder led the Pelicans by one point at 44-43 at the end of the first half.
The offensive efficiency of both sides was not high throughout the first half, which led to low scoring! Although the two sides alternated scores and led many times, neither of them could pull away from the other! It can be said that this is a typical retro game, there is no high score, only constant pressing and muscle collision on the defensive end! First half statistics: Thunder Dort 5 points and 5 rebounds, Jay 13 points and 5 rebounds, Holmgren 6 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, Keady 3 points, Alexander 9 points and 5 rebounds, Wiggins 5 points. The Pelicans scored just four points on 1-of-7 shooting, Murphy had seven points and six rebounds, Wallan had eight points and seven rebounds, Jones had four points, three rebounds and three assists, McCollum had seven points, Nance had six points and Marshall had seven points.
In the third quarter, Varland kicked off with two free throws, Holmgren's three-point shot went up and down, Jones rebounded and went up, Wallan ate cake inside, Dort made a sneak attack, and Varland scored six points in a row with a shot! Marshall made a three-point 100-step penetration, Alexander hit two free throws, Isaiah Joe scored a gentle dunk, Alexander opened his hand for three points, Marshall responded strongly with three points, Ingram hit both free throws, and the Thunder trailed the Pelicans by one point 70-71 in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Pelicans played 4-0, and Keady stopped the bleeding with three points in time! Varland forced Holmgren to score the ball, Keady scored three points, and the two sides tied again! Keady hit an unreasonable three-point shot again, and McCollum threw a throw to stop the bleeding! Alexander scored two points, and Jay scored five points in a row with free throws to stop the Pelicans, and the Thunder led to 8 points! Jayway continued to shoot with three points, Yingge shot in time to stop the bleeding, Alexander hit a jumper steadily, Varan threw to continue his life, McCollum hit a jumper, and the Thunder beat the Pelicans 97-89 at the end of the game, completing the series with a big score of 4-0 and successfully advancing to the Western Conference semifinals!
Unfortunately, the Pelicans were not able to escape the fate of being swept by the Thunder, and they became the second team in the West to be swept out of the tournament this year. As the Suns and Pelicans have been swept away one after another, the playoff pattern of the Wild West has also ushered in tremendous changes! This year will be a year in which the new generation of stars will emerge and replace the old stars, and James, Curry, and Durant will gradually fade out of the playoff stage! This season's Thunder can be described as a blockbuster! With an average age of only 23.9 years old, they have made people see the shadow of the Thunder who once had three less! The Thunder of that year almost won the championship, but where will the Thunder go this year? The semifinals, the Western Conference finals, and even the finals will win the championship? In short, they are full of anticipation!
Full-court stats: Thunder Alexander 24 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists, Holmgren 14 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists, Keady 14 points, Dort 11 points and 8 rebounds, Jay 24 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, Wiggins 5 points. The Pelicans were in a slump, scoring just eight points and six assists on 2-of-14 shooting, Murphy had seven points and 11 rebounds, Varland had 19 points and 13 rebounds, Jones had 11 points, McCollum had 20 points and six rebounds, Marshall had 16 points, and Nance had six points and six rebounds.