Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 Points Seals Game 1 For Oklahoma City Thunder

The youngest 1 seeded team in NBA playoff history got a narrow 94-92 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. Oklahoma City’s MVP candidate led the team in scoring with 28 points. He went 11-24 from the field and garnered six rebounds and four assists.

He had some solid support from Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. Jalen Williams finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals. The potential Rookie of the Year winner Chet finished with 15 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, five blocks, and one steal.

How Would The Thunder Have Fared With Zion On The Court?

Zion Williamson was well missed in Game 1 for the Pelicans. New Orleans was so close to taking the first game of the series if it wasn’t for two clutch shots from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Pelicans were playing great defense that left the Thunder scoreless in a stretch until Shai hit a clutch jumper with 90 seconds left in the game. After a clutch block from Chet, Shai converted an and-1 play to practically seal the game.

The Pelicans has nothing to be ashamed of in their loss last night. Trey Murphy III led the team in scoring with 21 points. Their star center Jonas Valanciunas had a double-double with 13 points and 20 rebounds. Zion Williamson won’t be in for this round of the playoffs as his hamstring injury won’t be re-evaluated until May 1st.

The Thunder would have had a much harder time defending the paint had Zion played yesterday. Jonas Valanciunas had 20 rebounds over Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams. Sure Chet had five blocks and an impressive 11 rebounds, but Jalen Williams provided little help against the New Orleans center.

How Will Game 2 Look For Oklahoma City?

They will play game 2 at home against the Pelicans. It could look more of the same from game 1. The key battle will not be at the perimeter with the duos of Shai/Giddey and Murphy III/McCollum. It will be the war under the rim between Jonas and Chet.

Sure Zion is out and that affects the strength the Pelicans have. However, the Thunder aren’t known to be a strong team. Jonas still has more muscle and experience than Chet. Chet’s length can help secure blocks, but Jonas has a multitude of tricks to get past the tall rookie.

Oklahoma City also lacks playoff experience. The Pelicans have players who made playoff runs like CJ McCollum, Jonas, and Larry Nance Jr. We’ll see if the lights do become too bright for the young Oklahoma City squad in the first round.

Shai is a solid defensive point-guard but he needs Josh Giddey to play his part and prevent CJ from scoring 20 like how he did yesterday. CJ did go 9-22 from the field. Yet, Giddey went 1-6 from the field. So Oklahoma City needs more production from their young shooting guard.