The New Orleans Pelicans came close to pulling off a huge upset Sunday night without star Zion Williamson.
However, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander gave a perfect performance in the final minute.
The MVP finalist led the Oklahoma City Thunder to a close 94-92 victory over the Pelicans in perhaps the best Game 1 in the entire league this weekend. The Thunder, who were hosting their first playoff game in exactly five years at Paycom Center on Sunday night, became the eighth home team to win their playoff opener in the past two days, and the first time since 2013 that they had a rare clean sweep. Ta. .
After appearing to pull away in the third quarter, the Thunder were shut out offensively in the fourth. The Pelicans took full advantage as the game went on without a field goal for more than five minutes. The Pelicans went on a dominant 18-6 run in that stretch, erasing a double-digit point lead and regaining the lead after falling behind for much of the second half.
But in the end, Gilgeous-Alexander hit a jumper with 90 seconds left, ending the Thunder’s drought and tying the game. Then, after Chet Holmgren came up with his fifth block of the night, Gilgeous-Alexander made a hell of a one-jumper from the lane on the next possession.
CJ McCollum hit a jumper up the middle of his own to end the Pelicans’ scoring drought and finally score the game-winning run, but the Pelicans couldn’t score. The Thunder came up with a last-minute stop to seal a two-point victory.
Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 28 points, six rebounds and four assists despite going 0-of-3 from behind the basket. Jaylen Williams had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Holmgren had 15 points and 11 rebounds with five blocks.
Trey Murphy led the Pelicans with 21 points and four rebounds, and McCollum added 20 points on 9-of-22 shooting from the field. Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and 20 rebounds.
To make the playoffs, the Pelicans had to beat the Sacramento Kings in the final game of the play-in tournament on Friday night. Williamson, who dropped 40 points in last week’s play-in loss to the Lakers, missed that game with a hamstring injury. He was also absent Sunday night and will likely be sidelined until at least Game 5 of this series. If he had been healthy and available Sunday night, the game could have been much different for the Pelicans.
But even if he’s sidelined, at least for the time being, New Orleans has shown it can absolutely contend for the Western Conference’s top seed. However, it remains to be seen whether that will lead to an upset in the series.
