Oklahoma City – The Thunder hit the road for game 3 of the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs up 2-0 and look to take a commanding 3-0 series lead. It’s really important to get this game because teams that go up 3-0 are 151-0 so it would be the defacto end of the series.
It was going to be very important for OKC to not give New Orleans any hope early on. The energy they brought in games one and two would need to be the same energy and effort needed to start game 3.
They brought the physicality needed to slow the Pelicans down in the opening quarter and they had pretty good energy on the defensive end. The offense on the other hand looked a little lethargic. There wasn’t much player or ball movement and it caused them to not get the best looks. Shooting only 8-21 in the opening frame.
However, they’re defense showed up once again and they didn’t allow the Pelicans to find any rhythm in the first and It was the Thunder who took a 23-19 lead going into the second quarter.
Second quarter was much different for the Thunder offense. More player and ball movement and they did a better job of punishing the Pelicans for their switches. Doing that while keeping the same defensive energy. The Pelicans punched back after the Thunder got the lead up to as much as 15 decreasing that to only 1 but the Thunder took the punch well and did some punching of their own.
They have done a great job of taking the Pelicans’ punches in this series and tonight was no different. After the Pelicans got it within 1, the Thunder went on a quick 11-2 run and ended the half on a 20-7 run to take a 60-46 lead into the half.
It looked like the Thunder were a couple of good opening minutes of the second half from completely taking the Pelicans soul away.
New Orleans came out of the half with more fight and tried their best to get back into the game. Even getting the Thunder lead down to 9 in the third but the Thunder just kept taking punch after punch from the Pelicans and hit back harder. Every time the Pelicans would think about getting back in the game the Thunder increased their intensity and their lead.
After that, the Pelican really had no chance. It looked like the life left them and that reflected on the scoreboard. The Thunder coasted to 106-85 victory to take a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Here are the reasons for the win
Poise
The Pelicans tried their hardest in game 3 to play with some fight. Time and time again the Pelicans punched the Thunder in the chin and time and time again the Thunder took the punches and punched back harder and harder. Every time the Pelicans would get it close, the Thunder wouldn’t panic. They settled down and increased their lead.
Their age and lack of experience hasn’t shown at all. It would be easy for a team to fold and crumble on the road when a team cuts a 15+ point deficit to 1. The Thunder didn’t. Having poise in high pressure moments can take a team very far.
Defense
Through 3 games now, the Thunder haven’t allowed the Pelicans any kind of comfortability on the offensive end. The physicality, intensity, and energy they have played with has been incredible. The Pelicans are struggling to hit the 90 point mark.
It obviously starts with Lu Dort and Jalen Williams on the wing and Chet Holmgren inside but the team defense has been on another level in this series. The Thunder forced 17 turnovers with their defense in game 3 and it really frustrated the Pelicans which was very obvious.
Taking a team’s two best players out of a series pretty much is big but it isn’t just that. No one on the Pelicans has been able to really get going. If the Thunder continue to play like this, they may catch themselves in the Finals this season.
Shooting
When a team shoots like the Thunder have in these last two games they are very hard to beat. They shot 48.2% (40-83) from the floor and 47.2% (17-36) from 3 in game 3 but that wasn’t really the impressive part.
Yes, it’s still impressive to shoot that well on the road but the real impressive part is they did it without getting to their bread and butter.
The Thunder love to get into the paint. They’re the best paint scoring team in the NBA. That hasn’t showed in this series so far. Only 40 paint points in game 3. The Pelicans have done a great job of protecting the paint through 3 games. The problem for them is the Thunder have done a great job of hitting their shots.
In game 1 it felt like the Thunder weren’t getting the best looks but in games 2 and 3 they really worked to get better looks all over the floor. They haven’t been able to establish themselves in the paint and feed off of that but it hasn’t really mattered because of the shot making they have had the last two game.
Combine this shot making with their defense and they are pretty much unbeatable.
The Thunder were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who had 24 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals while Jalen Williams added 21 points 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, and Josh Giddey added 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. They become the second trio in Thunder history to all have 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists in a playoff game and the 20th trio in NBA history to do so.
OKC will look to end the series on Monday night in New Orleans.