OKLAHOMA CITY — In a game as tense, physical and defensive as the opener between the Oklahoma City Thunder and New Orleans Pelicans, every possession must be handled with care.
The opening salvo of this first-round series was a grueling stone fight, and both sides struggled to throw a pebble into the ocean for most of the night.
With the score tied at 90 and less than two minutes remaining, every scoring opportunity felt like a gift from the basketball gods. So when the Pelicans grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row during a single pass down the court, it was the basketball equivalent of found money.
Except they didn’t manage to cash in. Four shots, zero points.
Nineteen seconds later, after the Thunder got the ball back, MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the lane and nailed a floater for a three-point play with 32.5 seconds left. The shot ultimately allowed the Thunder to escape with a 94-92 victory over the Pelicans on Sunday to take a 1-0 series lead.
SGA.
GAME 1.
CLUTCH. 🥶 pic.twitter.com/Ncur2reiQk-NBA (@NBA) April 22, 2024
“It’s times like these where you have an opportunity to shut the door on them, and we didn’t do that,” Pelicans guard CJ McCollum said.
Those four shots will haunt the Pelicans until they return to the court for Game 2 on Wednesday. This could end up haunting them all offseason.
The most troubling part of this four-shot streak was that the worst look came from Brandon Ingram, who rushed in an untimely fadeaway 3-pointer with nine seconds left on the shot clock and 1:07 to play.
This photo turned out to be a great summary of her night. It was frantic. It was sloppy. It was reckless. It was everything Ingram usually isn’t.
Ultimately, Ingram finished with 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting in a game that New Orleans desperately needed to control. Instead, a great chance to steal the opener from the West’s No. 1 seed slipped through his fingers.
Oklahoma City’s stars responded whenever things seemed shaky on their end. Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points on 11-of-24 shooting, including the go-ahead bucket in the final minute. Jalen Williams had 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. These two combined to score 27 of the Thunder’s 51 points in the second half.
Meanwhile, Ingram was held to four points on seven shots in the second half.
With Zion Williamson sidelined for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury, the pressure on Ingram to produce as the No. 1 option will continue to increase. If Game 1 was any indication of how this series will go, points will be valuable, which means New Orleans needs its active leading scorer to play like it does. There is no other option.
Ingram is certainly capable. Two seasons ago, he averaged 27 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists as the eighth-seeded Pelicans pushed the top-seeded Suns to six games without Williamson. Sunday’s game against Oklahoma City was the first time he scored fewer than 18 points in a playoff game, and his three assists were tied for his lowest total.
“It just wasn’t consistent enough for me. I need to have more control over the game,” Ingram said after the loss. “I have to make good plays, regardless of physicality or not. I have to be there for my teammates.
The Thunder had many advantages in this series. They were the No. 1 seed and they were well-rested, as the Pelicans had to win a hard-fought Play-In game Friday against the Sacramento Kings. The energy at the Paycom Center was off the charts as a sea of Thunder fans clad in white T-shirts let out deafening roars every time their team made a good play.
However, the advantage that most tilted Game 1 in the Thunder’s favor was their stifling perimeter defense, especially from Lu Dort. The fifth-year forward was already considered one of the elite guards in the NBA, ranking third in the rankings. Athleticism Anonymous player poll to determine the best defender in the league. He only added to his case the problems he gave Ingram all night.
Dort’s physicality at the point of attack makes him a particularly difficult matchup for Ingram. Given the way playoff games are usually officiated, Dort’s style of hitting on defense becomes even more effective without the benefit of the whistle.
Every time Ingram tried to make a move, Dort was inside the Pelicans star’s jersey. From the opening possession, Dort sent a message that he wouldn’t allow Ingram to get anything easily — not even a post touch.
From there, Dort pushed on. He catched. He kicked the ball. He drove past Ingram. He contested every jump. He made Ingram work every step of the way.
“It was definitely more physical (than a regular season game),” Ingram said. “I thought Lu Dort did a good job keeping his hands on me. Being physical and keeping his body on me.
After a while, Ingram became mentally and physically tired from the battles he had to go through with Dort to make things happen. Ingram’s growth over the past two seasons has been due to quicker decisions and more direct moves. However, in the fourth quarter on Sunday, he began to hesitate, apparently worried about whether the officials would make a decision or allow Dort to continue to rush him.
Sunday was just Ingram’s third game after three and a half weeks out with a bruised left knee bone, and his pace, feel and comfort level aren’t quite there yet. do the. It may take another game or two before he feels completely like himself again.
But at this point in the season, the Pelicans don’t have a game or two yet. Ingram is not looking for any sympathy. He just needs to play better and thinks the way to get there is simple.
“Keep being myself,” Ingram said. “Come back to the movie. Communicate with the guys about what I can do better – how I can make the game a little easier for myself and my teammates. And just be strong with basketball. I played against Lu Dort and OKC a few times and had a lot of success.
This season, Ingram only played in one of the three regular season matchups between these teams and was held to 12 points. Oklahoma City beat the Pelicans by 24 points in a game where Williamson was also out.
But Ingram had 34 points against Dort and the Thunder in a February 2023 game that the Pelicans won by three points. That time, the Pelicans often kept Ingram moving, forcing Dort and others to chase him around screens. In contrast, Sunday’s game featured more of Ingram dribbling the ball at the top of the key, trying to get free in pick-and-roll actions. This is where Dort thrives with his big body and ability to avoid screens.
Entering Game 2, the Pelicans could take some inspiration from this 2023 game and move Ingram more often. They could use Ingram as a filter to place Dort in more compromising positions. This could also help Ingram get more hits at the free throw line rather than above the 3-point line, which would allow him to make his moves quicker and help him see kick passes in the corners.
Another solution could be to initiate more Ingram pick-and-rolls on the sides rather than at the top of the key. Eliminating one side and allowing Ingram to play a two-man game can make it harder for OKC to crowd him.
“He’s got to keep playing,” Pelicans coach Willie Green said of Ingram. “Have a little gamesmanship, get to the free throw line more. This is what it’s going to be. We are physical with them, they are physical with us. It’s part of the game. It’s part of playoff basketball.
Over the next couple of days, Ingram will hear a lot of noise about how big Dort’s problem is and how difficult it will be for the Pelicans to find an answer to Oklahoma City’s physicality. The playoffs magnify every little problem, and two days off between games only provides more space for chatter. Ingram needs to ignore all this talk and react like all the greats do.
When Ingram was asked how he would react to Dort’s physicality in Game 2, his response was brief.
“Let him do it,” Ingram said confidently. “I’ll be ready.”
(Top photo: Alonzo Adams / USA Today)