Oklahoma City cruised to an easy game 106-85 three win against New Orleans as the Thunder had three players score over 20 points in the contest.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way, leading all scorers with a modest 24 points to go along with eight assists and five rebounds. His running mate Jalen Williams played fantastic as well, scoring 21 points of his own and tallying nine rebounds and five assists, and Josh Giddey had his best game of the series as well, dropping 21 with eight boards and six dimes. Lu Dort rounded out the frontcourt, scoring 12 points but continuing to play elite defense on Pelicans’ star Brandon Ingram, holding him to just 19 points.
The biggest key to the victory was the defense. The Thunder played an annoying brand of basketball all night, forcing 20 New Orleans turnovers including 14 steals that eventually became 23 points the other way. It was our ace defenders; Dort, Chet Holmgren, and Cason Wallace; playing great on-ball defense, while the rest of the team continued to play the pesky, aggressive style of off-ball defense that we’ve seen from them all year.
Furthermore with the team defense, OKC allowed just 38% shooting from the field and 28% from three. While the Thunder blocked five shots, the Pelicans could never find their form. The great rotations from the Thunder defenders across the board denied New Orleans from any consistent shooting attempts, leading to zero momentum for the Pels at home.
Lastly, it’s safe to officially say that Jalen Williams is a superstar. On paper, he’s a fantastic two-way player that excels on and off the ball defensively that can consistently create his own shot from any range. He’s also the number two scoring option on the number one team in the West behind a top three MVP candidate. When you actually watch him though, it gets even more impressive, especially on this playoff stage. The lights haven’t been too bright for him. Despite being a stud, he almost always makes the correct play passing off if it’s there. When he’s being defended well, he can still consistently find ways to score anyway with a plethora of pull-ups, step backs, and finishing moves. Defensively, he’s great on-ball or off-ball. He’s physical and willing to put his body on the line. He’s quick enough to live outside, but strong enough to hold his own inside. Most importantly, you can tell in his game that his number one priority is winning, and he doesn’t let his exceptionally bright future get in the way of that.
Oklahoma City has a chance to sweep the series in Game 4 in New Orleans on Monday night. The Pelicans have to stop an avalanche of Thunder momentum if they want to chip away at their 3-0 deficit.