By Joe Vardon, Josh Robbins, John Hollinger and William Guillory
The Oklahoma City Thunder handled the New Orleans Pelicans with ease Saturday, taking a 3-0 series lead behind a 106-85 runaway victory to set up a potential sweep Monday night.
The Thunder outscored the Pelicans each quarter and never trailed after the 7:25 mark of the first quarter. They forced 20 New Orleans turnovers and capitalized by hitting 17 3-pointers to the Pelicans’ nine.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 24 points, one of three Oklahoma City starters with 20-plus points.
Thunder 106, Pelicans 85
Series: Thunder up 3-0
Game 5: Monday in New Orleans
Could Oklahoma City be winning too easily?
NEW ORLEANS — Is sweeping this series actually a problem? That’s about the biggest thing you could come up with as a “worry” for Oklahoma City after Saturday’s 106-85 rout in Game 3: Whether wrapping up a sweep Monday will leave them too rusty for the second round.
The Thunder would potentially have a week off before their next game against either the Dallas Mavericks or the LA Clippers if they win Monday (although that series could start as soon as Saturday, it could also begin as late as next Tuesday), after already having a week off between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs. Is four games in 21 days enough to keep them fresh before potentially facing off against Luka Dončić in a best-of-seven series?
First-world problems for sure, but of the things for the Thunder to worry about, none of them would seem to involve the Pelicans. The Pels once again struggled to muster one point per possession against the Thunder’s stout defense. The one brief moment of concern in this game — Jalen Williams exiting after being hit in the face on a drive on the Thunder’s first offensive play — quickly evaporated when he returned and scored three straight baskets to begin the second quarter.
If you really want to come up with things to worry about, you can point out the 3-point shooting disparity may eventually even out, or that Gordon Hayward went scoreless again and hasn’t scored yet in 27 minutes this series while mostly being a passive observer of the proceedings. But I’m grasping at straws here.
In the meantime, Oklahoma City can enjoy a nice meal in the French Quarter between games, and perhaps a celebratory daiquiri or two after Sunday night’s Coach of the Year announcement, where the Thunder’s Mark Daigneault is a favorite to win the award. The fourth and likely final game of the series will be back here on Monday night. — John Hollinger, senior NBA writer
No excuses for that level of ineptitude from New Orleans
In Game 2, the Pelicans suffered their biggest blowout in a playoff game since 2009. In Game 3, the Pelicans had their lowest-scoring playoff game since 2011. In all three games, the Pelicans have failed to score more than 92 points. Being without Zion Williamson certainly hurts, but there’s no excuse for New Orleans to be as bad as it has been on offense in this series. Brandon Ingram finished with 19 points in Game 3. He’s failed to reach 20 points in any of the games this series.
The Pels also had a combined 39 turnovers in Games 2 and 3. Willie Green tried to open up the floor a bit by sitting Jonas Valančiūnas the entire second half in Game 3. Didn’t work. At the end of the day, if Ingram and CJ McCollum (16 points on 7-22 shooting in Game 3) are going to be this bad, the Pelicans don’t have much hope to beat anybody, let alone the No. 1 seed in the West. — Will Guillory, Pelicans beat writer
Magic 112, Cavaliers 89
Series: Tied 2-2
Game 5: Tuesday in Cleveland (TNT)
How Jalen Suggs set the tone for Orlando
You can cite all the X’s and O’s you want, but sometimes these things aren’t all that complicated. The Magic go as far as Jalen Suggs takes them.
He’s their heart and their soul. When Suggs has wreaked havoc on defense and played freely (and relatively mistake-free) on offense, the Magic have bedeviled the Cavs in this series. (And when he’s struggled on the offensive end, as he did in Game 1 and Game 2 and the first half of Game 3, the Magic have struggled, too.)
One of the not-so-subtle adjustments that Magic coach Jamahl Mosley made between Game 2 and Game 3 was deciding to assign Suggs to guard Donovan Mitchell more often instead of predominantly placing Gary Harris on Mitchell. Mitchell has had his spurts — particularly in Saturday’s first half — but when Suggs is making things difficult, Orlando’s entire tone changes.
It’s no coincidence that Suggs sank his two 3-pointers in Saturday’s game-changing third quarter and that it was Suggs who got into a face-to-face jawing match with Darius Garland. Those were huge momentum sequences in a quarter filled with them for the Magic. On Saturday, Suggs finished with 12 points, two rebounds, three assists and seven turnovers, but those stats don’t mesh with his real impact in the third quarter.
Game 4 showed Orlando can win even if Paolo Banchero plays badly. Orlando cannot withstand both Banchero and Suggs playing badly.
As these teams head into a pivotal Game 5 in Cleveland on Tuesday, Suggs will be the series’ barometer more than anyone else. — Josh Robbins, Wizards senior writer
Disastrous second half sinks Cavaliers
Teams that win the first two games of a playoff series advance to the next round 91 percent of the time. Is this what the other nine percent looks like?
If there are words that would do justice to the low levels the Cavs sunk to in two games in Orlando this week, my college education didn’t get to them. Stink, stank and stunk work for now.
This first-round series with the Magic is now tied after the Magic took Game 4 at home by 23 points, for a two-game margin of victory of 61 points. Orlando’s 38-pointer in Game 3 Thursday stands as the most lopsided loss in playoff history for the Cavs, a dubious record that would have been in serious jeopardy Saturday had Cleveland not taken a nine-point lead into the locker room. The Cavs still haven’t shot the ball well this series; I think you’d agree, 4-of-17 from 3-point range on Saturday doesn’t cut it.
I have been covering the NBA for 10 consecutive years now; the first 4 1/2 I was exclusively following the Cavs and will be following them in these playoffs until they bow out. I can say the third quarter in Game 4 was the worst quarter I’ve seen from a good Cavs team, ever. More turnovers (six) than field goals (four). Gave up 37. Managed just 10, coughing up a lung and any remaining pride after Thursday’s beatdown.
Before J.B. Bickerstaff went with the punt team lineup, with about five minutes to go, the Magic’s bench outscored the Cavs’ reserves, 36-4. Not a misprint. The starters weren’t all that sweet, either, especially after halftime. Mitchell, for instance, failed to score in the second half after 18 first-half points. That’s unacceptable.
Taking a step back from the wreckage, we know no team has won a road game yet in this series, and no road team has played even close to well in any game. The Magic will have to show their myriad adjustments, first and foremost swapping out Jonathan Isaac for Wendell Carter Jr., have truly unlocked something the Cavs can’t handle — that what happened here at the Kia Center wasn’t just a case of home comfort.
If Orlando does just that on Tuesday, then, well, this is what the other nine percent looks like. — Joe Vardon, NBA senior writer
Saturday’s NBA playoffs schedule
Thunder at Pelicans
- 3:30 p.m. ET, TNT (OKC leads 2-0)
Celtics at Heat
- 6 p.m. ET, TNT (Series tied 1-1)
Nuggets at Lakers
- 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC (Denver leads 3-0)
Sunday’s NBA playoffs schedule
- Knicks at 76ers: 1 p.m. ET, ABC (New York leads 2-1)
- Clippers at Mavericks: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC (Dallas leads 2-1)
- Bucks at Pacers: 7 p.m. ET, TNT (Indiana leads 2-1)
- Timberwolves at Suns: 9:30 p.m. ET, TNT (Minnesota leads 3-0)
Required reading
- Anonymous NBA player poll 2024: LeBron or Jordan as the GOAT? Most overrated? Finals favorite?
- Paolo Banchero delivers Game 3 star turn he promised Magic teammates
(Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA T0day)