Thunder’s Fourth Quarter Gives Them the Sweep Over the Pelicans

Coming into this Game Four matchup, the Oklahoma City Thunder were ready to pull out the brooms, as they desperately wanted to sweep the Pelicans in New Orleans after winning the first three games of this series. The Pelicans needed the win at home to keep themselves in playoff contention. New Orleans played great through the first three and a half quarters in this one, after allowing a Thunder run, the Pelicans knew they did not have what it took to come back, losing Game Four 97-89, and getting eliminated from the playoffs. 

The big thing for New Orleans as they got swept during this first-round series, was they had no one that could deliver big shots in big moments. The Pelicans as a whole never scored more than 95 points in this series, they could not handle the multiple shooting threats Oklahoma City has, and with no one that could come up big, New Orleans always came up short. Both teams would be tied at 21 after 12 minutes of action. These two teams would continue to be neck and neck, as the Thunder held just a one-point lead heading into halftime. New Orleans continued to battle, and they ended up walking away from the third quarter with a one-point lead. During the fourth quarter, with less than nine minutes remaining, the Pelicans led 80-75. Over the next six and a half minutes, the Thunder went on an 18-2 run which saw them take an 11-point 93-82 lead with three minutes left. The Pelicans could never recover from this incredible run by the Thunder and lost 97-89, being eliminated from postseason contention. 

Both Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams scored 24 points each during the Thunder’s win. Gilgeous-Alexander had 24 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks while Williams recorded 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. CJ McCollum led the Pelicans with 20 points in addition to six rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block. Brandon Ingram struggled to be a leader for the Pelicans in this series, and during this Game Four loss, he only had just eight points on two of 14 shooting. The Oklahoma City Thunder will either face the Los Angeles Clippers or the Dallas Mavericks during the Western Conference Semifinals.