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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> confirmed precisely why he is an MVP finalist after hitting the go-ahead bucket in Recreation 1’s win in opposition to the Pelicans<\/a>. Whilst New Orleans appeared prefer it might steal the win away from OKC, Gilgeous-Alexander simply casually received off probably the most troublesome pictures you may see to place the Thunder<\/a> up by two factors with simply over 30 seconds left within the recreation. It gave him 28 factors on the night time, and now the Thunder have an opportunity to go up 2-0 within the collection earlier than it heads south to New Orleans.
For the Pelicans, as valiant an effort as Recreation 1 was from them, particularly with out Zion Williamson<\/a>, OKC confirmed why its the No. 1 group within the West down the stretch of that recreation. It was a squandered alternative to place the stress on the Thunder on this collection, however it additionally confirmed that maybe the Pelicans have a greater shot on this matchup than individuals predicted.
As we put together for Recreation 2 of this Thunder and Pelicans matchup, this is what you could know.
Thunder:<\/strong>\u00a0Recreation 1 confirmed that maybe the Thunder will not be capable of stroll everywhere in the Pelicans. And whereas that is not typical for a 1\/8 matchup, it’s going to function take a look at for the younger OKC group within the postseason. SGA delivered, so did Jalen Williams<\/a>, and Chet Holmgren<\/a> had a constructive postseason debut with 15 factors, 11 rebounds, 5<\/em> blocks and two assists, however the evident weak point right here is Josh Giddey<\/a>. All season lengthy, Giddey has been the outlier in OKC’s beginning lineup. Certain, he provides the Thunder an extra ball handler subsequent to SGA within the backcourt, however his incapability to be an environment friendly soar shooter significantly hinders the Thunder. That could possibly be an space the Pelicans exploit going ahead, which might result in the Australian guard getting moved to the bench.
Pelicans:<\/strong>\u00a0Brandon Ingram<\/a> has a poor displaying and New Orleans nonetheless<\/em> nearly gained that recreation. That must be seen as a little bit of a constructive so long as Ingram is ready to get issues moving into Recreation 2. That must be the precedence for Wednesday night time’s recreation, getting Ingram going early, as a result of if he begins pulling down his pictures, it’s going to open issues up for New Orleans offensively. Trey Murphy III<\/a> and CJ McCollum<\/a> carried the load in Recreation 1, however they want Ingram to additionally pull up a chair to the desk if the Pelicans wish to even up this collection.
The Pelicans put up an excellent struggle, and this can be a bit extra balanced collection even with Williamson sidelined, however I am going with the Thunder to take a 2-0 lead. I do suppose it’s going to be one other shut contest, however I feel, finally, OKC is simply so good in high-pressure conditions that they’re going to pull out one other win.\u00a0The Decide: Thunder -7.5<\/strong>
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Play Now Men’s Brackets Play Now Women’s Brackets A Daily SportsLine Betting Podcast NFL Draft is coming up! Shai Gilgeous-Alexander confirmed precisely why he is an MVP finalist after hitting the go-ahead bucket in Recreation 1’s win in opposition to the Pelicans. Whilst New Orleans appeared prefer it might steal the win away from OKC, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-164900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n