Los Angeles (AFP) – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points to lead Oklahoma City in a 106-85 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday for a 3-0 stranglehold on their NBA Western Conference playoff series.
The top-seeded Thunder can complete a sweep of the best-of-seven first-round series on Monday in New Orleans, where the Pelicans will try to take the first step toward becoming the first team to rally from 0-3 down to win an NBA playoff series.
But with Zion Williamson sidelined with a hamstring strain, the Pels have had no answer for the young Thunder team led by Most Valuable Player award finalist Gilgeous-Alexander.
A three-pointer from Gilgeous-Alexander launched a 14-0 Thunder run late in the second quarter that put Oklahoma City in control.
The Thunder drained 17 three-pointers and after taking a 60-46 lead into halftime pushed their advantage to as many as 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Jalen Williams and Josh Giddey scored 21 points apiece for the Thunder. Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans with 19 and CJ McCollum added 16, but New Orleans made just nine of their 32 three-point attempts and turned the ball over 21 times.
Elsewhere, Franz Wagner scored 32 points for the Orlando Magic, who used a dominant second half to rout the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-89 and level their Eastern Conference series at 2-2.
The Cavs scored just 10 points in the third quarter and 29 in the second half as the Magic erased a nine-point halftime deficit and relentlessly pulled away.
With Magic star Paolo Banchero struggling to just nine points and four rebounds, Germany’s Wagner filled the void, grabbing 13 rebounds with four assists and a blocked shot.
The Magic’s suffocating defense made Cleveland’s offense disappear in the second half, when the Cavs went more than six minutes without scoring.
Orlando were up 92-70 early in the fourth quarter when Caris LeVert ended Cleveland’s drought.
But LeVert was one of several Cavs to endure a tough shooting night, connecting on two of eight attempts on the way to five points.
Jarrett Allen led Cleveland with 21 points and nine rebounds with Cavs star Donovan Mitchell finishing with 18 points.
“Our guys made the right adjustments,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said of his team’s big second half.
“(They) realized it was about the body and ball movement, sharing it, moving it, trusting the pass,” Mosley said, calling their defensive effort “special.”
The series returns to Cleveland for game five on Tuesday.
In Saturday’s other games, the Miami Heat sought to follow up their game-two upset victory in Boston with a home win against the Celtics in game three while the Los Angeles Lakers, down 0-3 and facing elimination, hosted the reigning champion Denver Nuggets.
© 2024 AFP
