Gilgeous-Alexander's 37th 30-Point Performance Propels Thunder Past Pelicans

Oklahoma City took down the New Orleans Pelicans 110-96 on Saturday evening at the Smoothie King Center, improving to 32-35 on the season. In the road victory, only three Thunder players —Josh Giddey, Jalen Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander — topped 10 points.

Despite the low scoring output from the other members of the team, Gilgeous-Alexander's impressive first half put OKC in control of the game from the beginning. The all-star guard notched 35 points, six rebounds, two assists, four steals and one block while only turning the ball over once in 37 minutes of action.

The former Clipper was incredible from the free throw line on Saturday night, going 13-for-13 from the charity stripe. Gilgeous-Alexander, as usual, did a remarkable job of getting into the lane against New Orleans, reaching 35 points without attempting a single 3-pointer.

Three of the Kentucky product's steals came in the first six minutes of the first quarter, helping Oklahoma City establish an early lead that it would not relinquish.

Second-year guard Josh Giddey also had an impressive performance on Saturday evening, tallying 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists while shooting 8-for-12 from the field. Of OKC's three players to produce double-digit scoring outputs against the Pelicans, Giddey was the only one to attempt a shot from beyond the arc.

The 20-year-old Australian's triple came in a timely moment, as New Orleans had just cut the Thunder lead to 13 early in fourth quarter. This season, Giddey is shooting 31.7% from behind the line, a 5% increase from his rookie year.

Rookie wing Jalen Williams also had a very efficient night, finishing 7-of-10 from the field en route to 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Williams also went 3-for-3 from the free throw line.

This season, the Thunder's third selection in the 2022 draft is averaging 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting over 52% from the field and almost 35% from beyond the arc.

The Santa Clara product has topped 15 points in each of his last seven games, including a 32 point outing against the Jazz that saw Williams shoot 12-of-15 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

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