Shots were falling with regularity on one end of the floor, while the only consistent development at the other end of Paycom Center was a whistle and moving-screen offensive fouls. That unfavorable combination, along with a few other areas of Oklahoma City excellence, led to a Thunder one-sided victory, in a drastically different outcome than Sunday’s nail-biting series opener. Top-seeded Oklahoma City stepped onto the floor and was immediately red-hot shooting-wise, eventually building up a lead of 30-plus points as New Orleans struggled to generate offense for a second straight game in the Sooner State.
Pelicans Highlights: Jonas Valanciunas with 19 points vs. Oklahoma City Thunder | 2024 NBA Playoffs Game 2
THREE POINTS
Playing through JV.
The first few minutes were promising for New Orleans, as center Jonas Valanciunas went to work in the paint and scored his team’s first 11 points, nearly all on post-ups and layups. However, Oklahoma City then rapidly took over, seizing a 35-22 lead by the end of the first quarter. In a contrast of styles with Valanciunas, rookie Chet Holmgren spotted up beyond the three-point arc and joined the barrage of Thunder perimeter accuracy, racking up 20 points by halftime.
Outage from the arc.
The Pelicans needed all of their starting center’s interior production, because their jumpers simply were not falling. The Thunder were better early in a variety of areas, but their starkest advantage came from three-point shooting (10/18 in the first half, compared to the Pelicans going 5/15, including just one make in the first quarter). New Orleans actually got much more efficient play statistically from its primary scorers than in Game 1, but they were robbed of extra opportunities due to the club’s rampant turnovers.
Return home.
After a long road trip to the West Coast, followed by a three-game Blender stretch of trying to get into the playoffs, then a quick weekend turnaround to OKC, the Pelicans will host their first playoff game since April 2022 on Saturday afternoon. “We regroup, we get home and we take care of home court,” head coach Willie Green said of his team’s outlook. Saturday won’t be a literal must-win situation, but no team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit, and only a few have even forced a Game 7 after being in that hole.
BY THE NUMBERS
9: New Orleans offensive fouls (stat via Pelicans TV), accounting for half of its 18 turnovers.
1: Time during the regular season New Orleans was held under 100 points in consecutive games. The Pelicans actually won both of those games (Feb. 10 and 12 at Memphis, at Portland).
1: Time during the regular season New Orleans lost a game by 30-plus points. That took place in Las Vegas in the In-Season Tournament semifinals.