A game that featured 13 ties and 20 lead changes came down to one final shot at the buzzer. CJ McCollum’s difficult three-pointer from the left wing was just a bit long, hitting the back rim as the final horn sounded. Top-seeded Oklahoma City survived with a two-point victory, after No. 8 New Orleans had several chances in the final two minutes to take a lead. Sunday’s game was marked by low scoring from both sides, starting with a first quarter that ended in a deadlock at just 17 apiece. The Pelicans didn’t tally more than 26 points in any quarter, yet still had a golden opportunity to pull off a Game 1 road win during clutch time.
THREE POINTS
Playoff basketball (and playoff defense) arrives.
Three-point attempts were plentiful but foul shots were not for much of the series opener, a testament to the way Sunday’s game was defended and officiated. The first half in Paycom Center was reminiscent of a 1990s grudge match between the Heat and the Knicks, with physicality on defense making it tough to create open shots, especially in the paint. The second half wasn't much different. Oklahoma City finished at 43.5 percent from the field, but that was actually the higher rate among the two teams and enough to prevail.
Make-or-miss league.
With drivers getting redirected regularly on attempted trips to the basket, the shot that was most available for both teams tended to be the three-pointer – which was a problem based on how they were shooting from the perimeter. The Pelicans went 11/39 (28 percent), an extreme outlier compared to the red-hot way they’ve drained jumpers on the road over the past two months. Meanwhile, the Thunder were only slightly better at 10/32 (31 percent), but made a few more key looks than the visitors as the night progressed.
Scramble across the finish line.
The final minutes of a nip-and-tuck game featured several hectic, frantic possessions from both teams, with New Orleans rushing shots in several instances, while Oklahoma City had a couple bad passes tossed out of bounds without much defensive pressure.
“We needed to be more poised,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said of how his squad handled the late-game scenario. “We took some (quick) shots. I thought we got a little sped up once we got those opportunities to shoot the ball (after offensive rebounds).”
BY THE NUMBERS
20: Jonas Valanciunas rebounds, becoming the first player in New Orleans franchise history to notch 20-plus boards in two different playoff games. He did that by just his seventh career playoff appearance for the Pelicans.
16-2: New Orleans second-chance points edge in the first half. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, they couldn’t take advantage in the fourth quarter of several extra possessions, including a costly sequence with the game tied. NOLA won offensive rebounds 18-8, an area it had a major on-paper advantage over OKC this season.
9: Free throw attempts for the Pelicans. They did not shoot single-digit foul shots in any game throughout the entire regular season.