Ingram gets ‘loose early’ in wire-to-wire win
The Thunder never led the Pelicans, but until Isaiah Joe’s rainbow 3-pointer clanged off the iron at the buzzer, the Thunder never looked dead, either.
New Orleans beat Oklahoma City 103-100 Monday night at Paycom Center in a game that felt far too close to be a wire-to-wire victory.
But after tripping into a 20-point hole in the first half, the Thunder failed to dig itself all the way out against a desperate Pelicans squad.
“They threw the first punch,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “They were more physical, more alert in the first quarter, and it took us a long time to get it going.”
Timely buckets seemed to escape the Thunder. OKC attempted 16 more shots than did New Orleans, but the Thunder shot just 42% compared to the Pelicans 53%.
And when the Pelicans needed a big shot, Brandon Ingram provided it.
Ingram, playing without co-stars Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum, scored a game-high 34 points on 14of-24 shooting.
With a minute left, Ingram put the Pelicans ahead by five points on an improbable shot. Thunder defensive ace Lu Dort stonewalled Ingram, and with the shot clock about to expire, Ingram raised and swished a 20-footer.
“I don’t think our defense was terrible,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I think he just made tough shots.”
It wasn’t Ingram’s late-game heroics that bothered Daigneault.
“We’ve seen him do that before … I thought what was disappointing is that he got loose early,” Daigneault said.
The Pelicans, now 3-0 against the Thunder, lead the Thunder by two games in the West.
It was the Pelicans’ first road win since Jan. 13 — exactly one month ago.
Thunder sets up final shot vs. Pelicans
The Thunder trailed by five points with 9.5 seconds left. The game was all but over.
But then Jalen Williams raced to the basket for a quick dunk, which cut the lead to three with 5.3 seconds left.
The Pelicans just needed to inbound the ball to walk away with the win. Easier said than done.
Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, knowing he was dangerously close to getting a five-second violation, tried to lob the ball to guard Jose Alvarado, but Isaiah Joe knocked it loose.
Or did he?
It was ruled Thunder ball, and the Pelicans couldn’t challenge because they were out of timeouts. That’s because the Thunder had forced the Pelicans into taking a timeout just 10 seconds earlier.
“All those (plays) stack up to even give you a chance to squeeze a shot off,” Daigneault said.
Josh Giddey, now inbounding the ball for the Thunder, tried to hit Joe for a game-tying 3-pointer, but Pelicans forward Herb Jones — a long-armed defensive menace — knocked the pass away.
Daigneault drew up another 3-point try for Joe, but again, it was Jones who blew the play up and forced an extremely difficult shot.
The Thunder used Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as a decoy for Joe, who shot 4of-11 from behind the arc.
Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, scored a team-high 24 points on 8-of-20 shooting. Credit Jones and the Pelicans defense for limiting SGA.
Gilgeous-Alexander was frustrated in the first half. Frustrated by how the Pelicans were playing him, and frustrated with the officials.
“I thought there were some missed calls, but it happens every night,” SGA said. “It’s basketball.”
Thunder rookie Jalen Williams hitting stride
Jose “Grand Theft” Alvarado is usually the one doing the stealing, but Jalen Williams returned the favor Monday.
Williams stayed with Alvarado step for step in the second quarter and then poked the ball free for a steal. Williams let Alvarado hear about it, too.
J-Dub had a massive two-way impact against the Pelicans. Earlier in the second quarter, Williams busted out a stepback 3-pointer, which hasn’t been in his shot arsenal.
The Thunder rookie guard scored 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. He had seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block.
“What I like about him, he had a really rough start defensively,” Daigneault said before correcting himself. “I said rough, I almost said bad, I should’ve said bad. He had a bad start defensively and I thought his defense energized him late in the first half.
“What makes him such a good player is the way he defends night in and night out and how seriously he takes that end of the floor.”
The All-Star break is nearly here, and Santa Clara Williams has yet to hit the proverbial rookie wall.
“He’s hitting more of a stride than a wall … He just keeps getting better,” Daigneault said.
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl returns from ankle injury
Thunder center Jeremiah RobinsonEarl played Monday for the first time since Dec. 12, when he suffered a severe right ankle sprain.
The injury forced Robinson-Earl to miss 28 games.
Before getting hurt, JRE averaged 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He shot 49% from the field and 38% from 3-point range — up from 41% and 35% splits in his rookie season.
Robinson-Earl shot 0-of-5 and was a minus-11 in his 18 minutes, but the Thunder was just happy to see him back on the floor.