The New Orleans Pelicans and Oklahoma City Thunder squared off for an opportunity to extend their season in the Play-In Tournament on Wednesday night, and ultimately it was the Thunder who came out on top, 123-118.
New Orleans led the game at halftime, but the Thunder came out and took over in the third quarter, outscoring the Pelicans 39-24. Despite a valiant effort on the part of the Pelicans down the stretch, Oklahoma City was able to hold on, thanks largely to its collective guard play.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all players with 32 points, while Josh GIddey had 31 points and 10 assists, and Lu Dort added 27 points and five rebounds. Brandon Ingram paced the Pelicans with 30 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Herb Jones also added 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, but ultimately their production wasn't enough to propel the Pelicans to a win.
With their victory, the Thunder advance to face the Timberwolves in Minnesota on Friday night. The winner of that game will secure the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, and a first round matchup with the top-seeded Denver Nuggets. Meanwhile, the offseason now officially begins in New Orleans.
Here's a look at three key takeaways from Oklahoma City's big win:
1. Gilgeous-Alexander continues climb to superstardom
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn't a household name quite yet, but he's well on his way to becoming one. The young Thunder guard made his first All-Star team this year, and he was the NBA's fourth-leading scorer on the season. But, since he plays on an upstart team in a small market, his national exposure has been limited. With the whole basketball-watching world tuned in on Wednesday night, Gilgeous-Alexander showed the masses what Thunder fans have seen all season -- elite guard play.
Gilgeous-Alexander started slowly against the Pelicans, but he really picked it up in the third quarter when his team needed a spark. With the Thunder trailing by six coming out of intermission, Gilgeous-Alexander switched into attack mode, and he quickly changed the complexion of the game. He scored a total of 17 points in that third quarter, while the Pelicans scored just 24 total as a team.
He finished the night with 32 points on 50% shooting, and showed why he's absolutely one of the best young guards in the league, even if he doesn't get quite as much national attention as some of the others.
With Gilgeous-Alexander driving the car, the Thunder's future is bright, but make no mistake, they're a problem in the present, too, and they are capable of knocking off Minnesota to claim the final playoff spot in the West.
Minnesota won the season series 3-1, but that regular season series is ancient history by NBA standards. The two teams faced each other twice within the first week of the season with the Wolves winning both. The teams split games in December, the last coming on Dec. 16. It may be cliche, but "throwing our the records" may never may been more appropriate.
2. Giddey up
While Gilgeous-Alexander is worthy of plenty of praise after that performance, he didn't pull out the win alone, and the Thunder likely wouldn't have won at all if it wasn't for the play of Josh Giddey, who finished the game with a near-triple-double: 31 points, 10 assists, nine rebounds.
As evidenced by his stat line, Giddey did a little bit of everything for Oklahoma City, and his ability to play both on and off-ball opens things up in a big way for Oklahoma City's offense. Given how advanced his feel for the game is, it's easy to forget that he's just 20 years old. But he is, and that means he's just barely scratched the surface of his potential. Having one great young guard is a luxury for a team, and the Thunder have two in Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey.
3. Rough night at the office for McCollum
C.J. McCollum picked a tough time to have a rough game. On the season, McCollum averaged 20.9 points while shooting 43% from the floor for the Pelicans. On Wednesday night, he had just 14 points in 41 minutes while shooting 33% (5 of 15) from the floor.
Without Zion Williamson's services, the Pelicans needed McCollum and Ingram to shoulder a larger scoring load, and while Ingram was able to do that against the Thunder by dropping 30, McCollum wasn't, and that was certainly a factor in the outcome of the contest. In a game that the Pelicans lost by five, if McCollum had simply hit his average from the season things might have turned out differently.