When Zion Williamson limped to the locker room in the New Orleans Pelicans’ play-in tournament game in mid-April, his team’s chances of winning a playoff series practically left the floor with him.
The New Orleans Pelicans were able to clinch a playoff spot without their explosive 23-year-old star in the lineup. But in their first-round series against the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder, the Pelicans have been outmatched.
On Saturday, the Thunder ripped off a 14-0 run in the second quarter to seize control of the game. The Pelicans could not muster a second-half comeback.
New Orleans lost to Oklahoma City 106-85 in Game 3 at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans trail in the series 3-0, and an NBA team never has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series.
“When you have one of your best players out, your margin for error shrinks," Pelicans coach Willie Green said. "When your margin for error shrinks against one of the better teams, every bit of execution matters."
In Games 1 and 2, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander nearly outscored Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum by himself. The Pelicans’ $30 million players were not able to provide consistent offense in the two games in Oklahoma City, and that didn’t change Saturday.
McCollum missed the first seven shots he attempted. In the first half, McCollum and Ingram combined to score 12 points on 5-of-19 shooting as the Thunder took a 14-point lead into the break.
The Pelicans cut the Thunder’s lead to one point at the 4:39 mark in the second quarter. Oklahoma City responded by making 3-pointers on its next four possessions.
Gilgeous-Alexander made a step-back 3 before the shot-clock buzzer sounded to begin the spurt. Luguentz Dort, the Thunder’s ace defender who has given Ingram problems in this series, made 3s on Oklahoma City’s next three trips down the floor.
Oklahoma City, which was the NBA’s most accurate 3-point shooting team during the regular season, converted 17 of 36 looks from behind the arc. New Orleans shot 9 of 32 from 3, with McCollum going 2 of 8.
“Just missing shots, man, to be honest with you," McCollum said. "I have had some quality looks. I have had some tough looks as well. But just missing shots. Been putting the work in behind closed doors. Understanding the game plan. I will continue to work on it.”
The Pelicans fumbled away any chance they had of cutting into the Thunder’s lead with a series of turnovers after halftime. They committed eight of them in the third quarter.
The Thunder never stopped splashing 3s, either. Second-year forward Jalen Williams connected on a 25-footer with 46.2 seconds remaining in the third quarter, which caused the Thunder’s lead to balloon to 19 points.
“It was tough," Green said. "I think we started the third quarter with four straight turnovers. That’s all we talked about in terms of our game-plan discipline.
"Look, our guys are going out there. They are trying, and they are fighting. But that’s an area where we can’t kill ourselves, and we did that tonight.”
Green opted to start Larry Nance Jr. at center in the second half. Jonas Valanciunas logged 12 minutes of court time in the first half, but no adjustment Green made helped the Pelicans score the ball.
New Orleans was held to 92 points in Game 1 and 92 points in Game 2. The 85 points the Pelicans scored in Game 3 were only two more points than their lowest scoring output during the regular season.
Ingram finished with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting. McCollum scored 16 points on 7-of-22 shooting with six turnovers.
The Pelicans shot 38.1% from the floor.
“They sped us up tonight," McCollum said. "We had a lot of turnovers. I had six. Way too many. Take better care of the ball. Better possessions. The other part is finishing possessions.”