NBA Playoffs: Thunder make late breakthrough to beat Pelicans, complete series sweep
It wasn’t a great game on Monday night, but the Oklahoma City Thunder got the job done.
The Thunder are now headed to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in nearly a decade.
The Thunder capitalized on a late run to put away the New Orleans Pelicans 97-89 in Game 4 of their opening-round playoff series on Monday at Smoothie King Center. The victory completed the series 4-0 and officially sends them to the next round of the playoffs. It was their first series win since 2016 and their first sweep since 2012. They reached the Western Conference Finals during that 2016 run, but were eliminated from the playoffs by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors.
The Pelicans, on the other hand, were swept for the first time since 2015.
Thunder shut down Pelicans late to complete sweep
After a tight battle through the first 36 minutes, the Pelicans appeared to be running away from the game early in the fourth quarter. They entered the period with a one-point lead, which was their first entering the final period of any series, and almost got to seven points early on.
The Thunder, however, immediately responded with an 8-0 outburst to rally, thanks in large part to Josh Giddey’s three consecutive points. They quickly took it to an 18-2 run and held the Pelicans to just one field goal – a CJ McCollum layup – the rest of the way. New Orleans simply closed.
The Pelicans finished with just 18 points in the period, while the Thunder held firm to seal the eight-point victory.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 24 points and nine rebounds in the win. Jalen Williams had 24 points, 11 of them in the fourth quarter, and eight rebounds. Giddey finished with 14 points and made all four of his 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to help fuel the final run with Williams.
The Pelicans struggled offensively for much of the night as Zion Williamson — who injured his hamstring in the first game of the tournament and has been sidelined ever since — watched from the bench. They shot just 3-of-19 from 3-point range as a team in the first half, and Brandon Ingram finished with eight points on a 2-of-14 night from the field. The Pelicans did not score more than 92 points in any of their four playoff games. Williamson was considering returning to the court at the end of this series, but it would take at least until Game 5 for him to play again if all goes well with his recovery. Now, however, that doesn’t matter.
McCollum led the Pelicans with 20 points in the loss, and Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 13 rebounds. The Pelicans finished shooting just 8 of 34 from behind the arc and had 18 turnovers as a unit.
The Thunder will now advance to the second round, where they will face the winner of the Los Angeles Clippers-Dallas Mavericks series. That series is tied 2-2 heading into Wednesday’s Game 5, so they will have several days of rest before the next series begins.
While this series will certainly be much more competitive anyway, the Thunder don’t have to worry about that just yet. They secured their first series win since the Kevin Durant era, and that’s all that matters.
