C.J. McCollum and Zion Williamson led the counterattack and finally won 110:106, tying the fifth-highest deficit in team history.
OKLAHOMA CITY (LVBET) — CJ McCollum had 29 points and 11 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 22-point deficit to defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder 110-106 on Wednesday night.
Zion Williamson added 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for the Pelicans, who improved to 3-1. New Orleans won despite missing forward Brandon Ingram, who was out with right knee soreness. New Orleans scored 27 points on 22 offensive rebounds.
Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 points, but he missed a 3-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining that would have given the Thunder the lead. Chet Holmgren added 19 points and 11 rebounds and Jalen Williams added 18 points for the Thunder, who made just 7 of 34 3-pointers.
Josh Giddey scored 10 points in the first 6:20 of the game. The Thunder led 33-14 after one quarter as the Pelicans made just 1 of 12 3-pointers.
Giddey got the crowd going in the second with a pass from beyond the 3-point line to Ousmane Dieng for a dunk that gave the Thunder a 39-20 advantage. Oklahoma City eventually pushed the lead to 47-25. New Orleans started hitting 3-pointers and cut into the deficit, but the Thunder still led 51-43 at the break.
The Pelicans then opened up the outside firepower and blew the counterattack horn. Before the halftime break, they had caught up with only 8 points left. Not only did the outside attack flow smoothly, the Pelicans faced the Thunder today with Chet Holmgren sitting in the penalty area.
He grabbed 22 offensive rebounds in total and scored 27 points through the second wave of offense. Williamson grabbed 7 offensive rebounds by himself. He single-handedly tore apart the Thunder’s defense in the penalty area. He also scored all the points in the game.
An all-around performance of 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists. Among the 8 assists he sent today, he helped the Pelicans score 6 three-pointers, becoming the key to the Pelicans’ reversal in the second half.
The Thunder fell behind by double digits in the fourth quarter. Although the team’s first brother Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led a counterattack in the final quarter, they caught up to 1 point after making two free throws in the last 1 minute and 38 seconds of the game. Poor, but McKellen, who felt the hottest for the Pelicans today, scored a three-pointer at a critical moment and made two free throws in the last 0.2 seconds of the game, helping the Pelicans finally win with a 4-point gap. McKellen also scored today Scored a game-high 29 points with 11 rebounds and 5 assists.
