Western Conference Recaps, April 12: Shai Gilgeous-Alexanders Has Oklahoma City Thunder One Victory From Playoffs

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made sure the Oklahoma City Thunder stayed alive in the play-in tournament.

Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 of 32 points in the second-half to give the Thunder a 123-118 victory against the New Orleans Pelicans.

“To start the game, I wasn’t expecting a huge outburst offensively,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “I wanted to kind of set the table to make sure my teammates were ready to go, confident and attacking. And I knew once I did that, the defense would have to worry about them as well and my offensive game would open up.”

Josh Giddey finished with 31 points and 10 assists while Luguentz Dort had 27. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 30 points and Trey Murphy had 21.

The Thunder plays the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday with a berth in the playoffs on the line. The winner faces the Denver Nuggets in the first round.

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Cory Nelson is a contributor to Inside The Heat. He attended Northern Virginia Community College. He can be reached at corymckenzienelson@hotmail.com or follow him on Twitter @CKenzyNelson. You can also check out his personal blog HERE.