Oklahoma City Wins Three Straight, Tops New Orleans 108-100
Oklahoma City survived a late rally to win their third straight game.
Without Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, OKC overpowered the Pelicans, winning 108-100 on Wednesday Night at the Smoothie King Center.
Oklahoma City set the tone early, getting off to a hot shooting start, opening the game on an 11-3 run.
Lu Dort was a big part of the fast start offensively, and the Canadian ended the first quarter with 10 points, but the Thunder lead didn’t last for long. Mental lapses on defense saw the Pelicans storm back to take a 29-28 lead at the end of the first quarter, but then Oklahoma City tightened things up and began to assert their will.
The Thunder outscored New Orleans 28-19 in a second quarter which saw the Pelicans get assessed five technical fouls, two of which resulting in the ejection of New Orleans guard Josh Hart.
OKC then started to heat up from beyond the arc to extend their 56-48 halftime lead, spearheaded by the play of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Thunder ended the third quarter on an 18-4 run where their star point guard created 12 straight points either off his own shots or by setting up his teammates. The run gave Oklahoma City the breathing room they needed heading into the fourth quarter, and they never looked back.
Overall, Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the evening.
And while the Thunder guard carded another great performance, his backcourt running mate Josh Giddey again flirted with NBA history.
The Australian guard nearly become the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double, finishing with seven points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
It’s not the first time this year Giddey has been on triple-double watch as the No.6-overall pick is looking the part so far this year.
Things got a bit nervy for the Thunder near the end of the game as the Pelicans cut a 21-point lead all the way down to five points before Oklahoma City got the offense going again to close out the victory.
Dort finished as OKC’s leading scorer with 27 points, and OKC also got nice contributions from Darius Bazley who finished with 14 points and Mike Muscala, who added 12 points.
The Thunder will return home to start a four-game home stand on Friday night, when OKC hosts the Sacramento Kings. Tip-off between the Thunder and the Kings is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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