© Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports
The Pelicans Looked Even Less Experienced Than the Thunder in Game 1
New Orleans collapsed down the stretch and OKC took the opening game of the series.
The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 94-92 on Sunday night to take a 1-0 lead in their first round series. It could turn out to be a huge missed opportunity for the Pelicans who had the lead with less than two-minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but fell apart in the final moments.
Up 90-88 with 1:48 left on the clock, Brandon Ingram committed an offensive foul. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied the game on the ensuing possession and things only got uglier for the Pelicans from there. After Herb Jones missed a three in the corner both CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram jacked up ill-advised deep shots as if the Pelicans were trailing instead of tied. New Orleans finally caught its breath when officials stopped the game to adjust the shot clock.
When play resumed Chet Holmgren blocked a Larry Nance Jr. layup. SGA then gave the Thunder the lead on the next play, earning an and-one on a questionable call against McCollum.
New Orleans' only points of the final three and a half minutes would come on a baseline fadeaway by McCollum on the next possession. It's hard to know if it was OKC's defense that forced New Orleans into this tough shot as a "quick two" or just the inability of the Pelicans to get something easy.
Finally, we have the Pelicans' final posession. New Orleans only trailed by two with 14 seconds remaining and they took a timeout to draw up their final play. Which was... an iso for McCollum, who nearly lost the ball before getting a decent look at a bad shot as time expired. The only reason any other Pelican was almost involved was because Brandon Ingram ran up to try and help McCollum when Cason Wallace nearly picked his pocket.
It barely constitutes as a play call. And the fact that McCollum tried to tip the ball out beyond the line after missing his three-point try makes one wonder if the guard really knew they could shoot a two in that situation.
A lot was made about the Thunder's lack of playoff experience coming into this series, but if this game was any indication, it's just as much an issue for the Pelicans. The offense ran through McCollum at the end, and he's 32 years old but hasn't won a postseason series since 2019. Jonas Valančiūnas hasn't been on a team that won a series since 2018. Meanwhile, OKC can counter with Gordon Hayward, who hasn't won a series since 2020.
No matter who wins this series, experience is not going to have anything to do with it. The Pelicans' size seemed like a problem for most of the game as they outrebounded Oklahoma City, with Valanciunas grabbing 20 of his own. But by the end of the game New Orleans had no choice but to go small and it didn't matter. A healthy Zion Williamson could make a difference, obvoiusly, but it's not like the Pelicans have one of those lying around.
Short of Zion returning, the Pelicans are going to have to grow up just as fast as the Thunder if they want to win any games in this series. At the end of Game 1 they didn't seem to know the score or situation and when they didn't, they relied completely on CJ McCollum isolation. Surely Willie Green will have some actual plays to run in Game 2.
