Rolling Thunder on verge of sweep
Second-half surge, smothering defence overpower Pelicans
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams was on his hands and knees after taking a hard shot to the eye on the opening possession of a pivotal game.
By the third quarter, Williams was draining a pair of three-pointers during a 9-0 run that had the New Orleans Pelicans reeling.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points, Williams and Josh Giddey each had 21 and the Thunder beat the Pelicans 106-85 on Saturday to take a 3-0 lead in their firstround NBA playoff series.
“Dub’s very talented,” Gilgeous Alexander said of Williams, who scored 13 of his Game 3 points in the second half. “He was clearly big tonight, very impressive and nothing we’re not used to.”
The top-seeded Thunder entered the playoffs answering a lot of questions about the relative youth and inexperience on their roster — and that appeared justified after a twopoint escape at home in Game 1 against the eighth-seeded Pelicans.
Since then, the Thunder have posted victory margins of 32 in Game 2 and 21 in Game 3, in no small part because of a relentless defensive effort that has kept the Pelicans to 92 or fewer points in all three games of the series.
“We were ready to play,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Our physicality again, our defence and focus on that end of the floor was really, really good, made them earn everything.”
Oklahoma City was 17-for-36 (47.2 per cent) from three-point range and held a lead of 10 points or more throughout the second half, going up by as many as 24. By then, a contingent of Thunder fans could be heard chanting, “OKC! OKC!” as New Orleans fans filed out.
“We adjusted really well to the flow of the game. We got good looks,” Giddey said. “They threw a lot of different looks at us but we’ve got a lot of weapons on the floor at all times. So, guys made the right play, the extra pass.”
The Pelicans, who’ve been without star forward Zion Williamson during the series because of a hamstring injury, will try to avoid elimination at home in Game 4 on Monday night.
“It’s not over,” New Orleans coach Willie Green said of his message to the team, but history is not on the Pelicans’ side.
No team in NBA history has come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
Thunder 106
Pelicans 85 Thunder lead series 3-0