OKLAHOMA CITY — With a chance to reach an unlikely tie, sharpshooter Isaiah Joe had just enough time to heave a turnaround right-wing 3-point attempt.
The shot hit the rim before ricocheting into the air as the final buzzer sounded for a 103-100 Oklahoma City Thunder loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
It was an appropriate ending to a game that saw the Thunder, who have been the best offensive-rated team since Jan. 1, struggle to hit shots. The Thunder once again failed to reach .500, which has been a thematic struggle this season.
After trailing by as many as 20 points, the Thunder came out of halftime and dominated the third quarter with a 22-16 advantage. The Thunder eventually cut the Pelicans’ lead to as little as one point but never actually passed them on the scoreboard.
“Credit them, they were more ready to play,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said. “I thought they threw the first punch. They were more physical (and) more alert in the first quarter.”
It was a sluggish performance from both teams as the game had trouble finding rhythm until the second half.
The Thunder shot 38-of-90 (42.2%) from the field and 9-of-33 (27.3%) from 3. Meanwhile, the Pelicans shot 39-of-74 (52.7%) from the field and 9-of-30 (30%).
Despite taking 16 more shots than the Pelicans, the Thunder couldn’t take advantage of the extra possessions.
Without Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram carried the offensive load as he finished with 34 points on 14-of-24 shooting and four rebounds. Ingram used his lengthy-frame to shoot over Thunder defenders and hit high-difficulty shots.
It was pretty easy to tell Ingram was going to have a massive scoring night. He scored the first 12 points for the Pelicans in the opening four minutes.
“He’s a tough shot-maker. We’ve seen him do that before,” Daigneault said. “I thought what was disappointed is that he got loose early. … We allowed him to get into a pretty good rhythm there early. Tip our hat to him late, we guarded him as well as he could. Certainly not all of his 34 points were as earned as they could’ve been.”
Jonas Valanciunas finished with 14 points and eight rebounds while Jose Alvarado had 14 points and played stellar defense.
The loss makes the Thunder 0-3 against the Pelicans this season. No matter who’s out for them, it seems the Pelicans have the Thunder’s number this season and provide a bad matchup for them.
Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from this three-point loss.