Despite Lackluster Shooting Performance, Thunder Defense Leads to Narrow OKC Victory
Oklahoma City didn't have the same offensive outing it's become accustomed to this season, but was still able to come away from Game 1 with a tight win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
On Sunday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted its first playoff game since 2019.
Coming into the contest as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, OKC had been one of the best offensive teams in the NBA during the regular season but needed an outstanding defensive effort to take Game 1 against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Coming out on top in a 94-92 slugfest, the Thunder shot just 31.3% from 3-point range and 43.5% from the field. In 82 regular season games, Oklahoma City shot 38.9% from beyond the arc and 49.9% from the field.
Despite an off-night shooting the ball, OKC's defense picked up the slack and willed the Thunder to victory. Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace had particularly solid performances on that end of the floor with the entire team chipping in for an impressive defensive outing in Game 1.
Dort, who didn't have an eyepopping stat line against the Pelicans, managed to slow down former All-Star Brandon Ingram all night. The 6-foot-8 forward went 5-of-17 on Sunday night, finishing with 12 points and struggling to get open looks as Dort stayed attached to Ingram for what felt like the entire game.
Despite hitting just two field goals, Dort played 35 minutes in Game 1, the third-highest of any Thunder player behind Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
After the game, Williams commended Dort's defensive effort.
"He's a first team defender man," Williams said in his postgame press conference. "Anytime you see somebody playing that hard, it makes you play just as hard. ... It's the level of pride he plays with on the defensive end and I think it kind of gives us all that jolt to want to play harder."
In his first career postseason game, Holmgren also had an impressive defensive performance, logging five blocks and one steal, including what proved to be one of the most important plays of the game.
With less than a minute left and the score tied at 90, the rookie center blocked a floater from Larry Nance Jr., leading to an and-one bucket from Gilgeous-Alexander on the other end that gave OKC a three point lead with 32.5 seconds on the clock.
"At the time what was just going through my mind was trying to make a play," Holmgren said after the game. "I guess that's what happened and we were able to capitalize on the other end."
Holmgren showed great timing all night, rotating into the paint for multiple blocks as a help defender, knocking down shots in transition and even erasing a shot attempt when Trey Murphy III darted into the paint and challenged Holmgren at the rim.
The Gonzaga product wasn't the only Thunder rookie who had a solid showing on defense, however, as Wallace also played very important minutes for Oklahoma City off the bench.
In 19 minutes on the floor, the 20-year-old guard from Kentucky recorded just five points, one rebound and one assist, but gave OKC key defensive stops when Mark Daigneault's team needed them.
Most notably, Wallace switched onto CJ McCollum in the game's final possession, nearly stripping the ball away from the veteran guard before he could get settled, then getting McCollum to settle for a tough, off-balance shot to end the game.
After good defensive outings from Holmgren and Wallace, Gilgeous-Alexander praised the rookie duo's performance.
"I don't really consider them rookies anymore," SGA said with a smile. "They've played so many minutes, so many big moments. Once you get past 82 games, I don't think you're a rookie anymore, and they proved that tonight."
After a hard-fought first game of the series, OKC will take on New Orleans in Game 2 from the Paycom Center on Wednesday night at 8:30 P.M. CT.
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