Oklahoma City Stuns Pelicans Behind a Big Three Performance

Oklahoma City pulled off a stunner on Wednesday night, marching into New Orleans and taking down the Pelicans 123-118.

The Thunder made up for its lack of an interior presence with elite defensive rotations and max effort on the floor. The Pelicans shot just 9-of-28 from 3-point range, and a good part of that was Oklahoma City’s defense throwing them off.

Even though the Thunder came out on top, Brandon Ingram tried his hardest to have the final say. The forward was a thorn in OKC’s side all season long and finished his year with a 30-point performance on 10-of-19 shooting. Down the stretch, Ingram was disregarding whatever defender was guarding him, making tough shot after tough shot over the top of the defense.

The young Thunder kept its composure no matter what punch Ingram and the Pelicans threw their way, though. The team’s seasoned veterans, under 25-years old of course, led Oklahoma City to one of the franchise’s biggest wins in recent memory.

Here’s who carried the Thunder past the Pelicans:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Gilgeous-Alexander struggled maneuver around freely in the first half thanks to Herb Jones’ outstanding defense. It was SGA who had the last laughter, however.

The Thunder star poured in 32 points on 11-of-22 after heading into halftime with just seven points on the evening. His massive third quarter gave the Thunder a nine point lead heading into the final frame — which is just what the team needed to hang on.

It wasn’t his most efficient game by any means, Jones is one of his toughest matchups. But Gilgeous-Alexander found a way despite the defense, and led the Thunder to its biggest win in two years behind his 32 points.

Josh Giddey

On the biggest stage of his life, Josh Giddey looked like the best player on the floor for a good portion of the game. It was a coming out party for the Thunder’s 20-year old point guard.

In 42 minutes, he tied a career high 31 points on 11-of-22 shooting and 3-of-7 from 3-point range. In addition, Giddey added 10 assists and nine rebounds, nearly pulling off the triple double. The Thunder struggled when Gilgeous-Alexander took time off the floor, but without Giddey to weather the storm, it would’ve been disastrous. This will be a performance Thunder fans can point back to for a long time.

Lu Dort

Dort was the Thunder’s X-Factor tonight, absolutely saving the team with his first half performance. The defensive stopper netted 20 points in the first half and filled in flawlessly until Gilgeous-Alexander finally got going. He shot the ball with confidence and composure the entire game, and that’s exactly what the Thunder needed.

In the second half, he and Ingram had a battle for the ages. Dort did his best, but Ingram netted a few really tough buckets. Dort got the last laugh, though, forcing a miss on Ingram’s shot to take the lead with under 30 seconds left in the game. His presence on the floor Wednesday night was invaluable, and helped the Thunder walk away victorious.

Want to join the discussion? Like SI Thunder on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.