The Thunder Finished Off A Sweep Of The Pelicans In Game 4

The two most impressive teams in the 2024 Playoffs have been the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, and on Monday night the Thunder joined the Wolves as the two teams to have punched their tickets to the conference semifinals, beating the Pelicans 97-89 in Game 4.

After back-to-back blowout wins, the Thunder and Pelicans played a game that felt much more like the Game 1 slugfest that saw OKC get the edge late. Both defenses led the way once again on Monday night, as the length and activity for both teams was spectacular. The two teams combined for 32 turnovers, as nothing came easy on the offensive end and the best offense for both teams was creating a turnover and pushing in transition.

Both teams stars had tough nights shooting the ball against the opposing pressure. Brandon Ingram was once again locked in the Dorture Chamber, going 2-of-13 from the floor and scoring eight points, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was able to score 24 but went just 8-of-21 from the field. The supporting casts did provide some support for both from surprising sources, as Naji Marshall came off the bench to hit four threes for New Orleans and Josh Giddey did the same for the Thunder.

After playing to a near-stalemate in the first half, the Pelicans showed their fight to take a five-point lead in the second half as they traded tough buckets with OKC in the late third and early fourth quarters. .

However, after taking a 5-point lead in the fourth, the Pelicans offense went cold again and the Thunder showed their mettle, producing their best offensive stretch of the night when they needed it most. OKC went on an 18-2 run to effectively put the game to rest, with the biggest shots of that run coming from Jalen Williams, who hit a pair of huge threes to put the dagger in the Pelicans season.

Williams joined SGA with 24 points on the night, and all five Thunder starters finished in double figures scoring. On the other side, C.J. McCollum led the way with 20 points on 9-of-16 shooting and Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 13 rebounds, but they simply could not create enough offense in the fourth quarter to keep up with the Thunder as they kicked it into gear.

OKC will now await the winner of the Mavs-Clippers series, which is tied at 2-2 meaning the Thunder will have almost a week off before playing again. The Pelicans will look at Games 1 and 4 as positive showings, but recognize that there’s another level they need to reach in order to be a legitimate contender. The question they must answer is how much closer does a healthy Zion Williamson get them to that point, and what needs to change even with him back in the fold to take another step next season.