NEW ORLEANS -- The youngest No. 1 seed in the history of the NBA playoffs certainly isn't being hindered by its lack of playoff experience."We just try to clear the hurdle in front of us," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said."That's how we've been through time, not just this season.
Oklahoma City has used 13 players in this series and nine of them are playing in a playoff game for the first time. Three of the four players on the roster with the most experience in playoff games ---- have combined for zero points through three games, with Hayward playing just over 27 minutes while the other two have yet to play."Every experience you live through and you learn," Gilgeous-Alexander said.
The Thunder's defense has worn down the Pelicans in this series, holding them to an average of 89.7 points in three games. New Orleans hasn't hadin this series, but the defensive trend is something that showed itself in the one game Williamson didn't play against Oklahoma City on Jan. 26, when the Thunder held the Pelicans to a season-low 83 points. With Williamson, New Orleans scored 112 and 110 points in their two other regular-season matchups.
Game 4 against the Pelicans will be Monday night, when the Thunder will look for their first playoff sweep since taking out theIf the Pelicans want to prevent that, they'll have to not only shoot better after being 38.1% from the floor and just 9-of-32 on 3s, but also protect the ball. The Pelicans had 21 turnovers in Game 3, tied for the most New Orleans had in any regular-season game this year.