NEW ORLEANS — The youngest No. 1 seed in playoff history will face another first Saturday.
The Thunder will play its first road playoff game together as OKC tries to go up 3-0 on the Pelicans in the first round of the Western Conference.
Here are three keys for the Thunder in Game 3 at 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon:
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Continue to unleash unpredictable counters
It might not have been so obvious in Game 1 between the lack of shotmaking and how stellar the New Orleans looked, but Mark Daigneault has a good chance of becoming a household name in these playoffs.
Game 2 was proof.
As the Thunder began to flip the Pelicans on their heads in Wednesday’s game, it seemingly had a counter for every hopeful move. It broke a desperate zone by placing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the middle of the floor in hopes of drawing out a big. It used the way New Orleans defended against it, letting guards set off-ball screens for easy jumpers.
Some of it goes beyond design. Gilgeous-Alexander’s creativity was groomed over time; Jalen Williams’ instincts with the ball came with years of handling it; Aaron Wiggins’ ankle-breaker that boomeranged back to him for an easy dump-down layup was a product of OKC’s ball handlers and how they accentuate each other.
The Thunder’s best offense unfolds that way, hard hitting and with blinding counters. Decisions — a particular screen, an intentional cut — that make opponents choose in lose-lose situations.
Not all of it ends up being unpredictable. Daigneault has laid himself out there, trying so many different options out of his sets and lineups to be their test dummies that the film will show plenty of it. It’s about when he chooses to run them, who he entrusts to do so, and how they execute. In Game 2, so much of that was flawless.
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Lock up Ingram
Lu Dort has been on a mission this series. The same mission he’s been on since joining the NBA ranks: Conquer his defensive assignment.
With Brandon Ingram, New Orleans’ first-scoring option with Zion Willliamson sidelined, Dort has shut off the Pelicans’ flow of water on the wing. It’s forced the Pelicans, while not exactly shying away from running offense through Ingram, to cross their fingers for production elsewhere.
In Game 1, Dort allowed Ingram to score just once in seven attempts. In Game 2, despite more shotmaking and even new wrinkles to free himself, Ingram only attempted 10 shots. He also committed three turnovers, all offensive fouls. Dort had plenty to do with those.
Dort’s screen navigation has been unlike anyone else in the series. The space he’s refused to give Ingram and how he’s beaten him to spots has meant everything. Much of New Orleans’ fate depends on what grip Dort might have on Ingram for the remainder of the series.
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Force more turnovers
With each time he’s been asked about turnovers, Daigneault has steered in another direction. He’s noted that, despite how many turnovers OKC has forced this season, that it isn’t by design. The energy and activity that leads to it is.
The Thunder didn’t produce nearly as much of that as it typically does in Game 1. At halftime of the 94-92 win, New Orleans was actually winning the turnover battle 6-2. The game finished with OKC escaping just a turnover shy (14-13) of the Pelicans.
Wednesday’s game looked more like what fans have grown used to seeing, though. Dort clogging space and forcing officials’ hands, OKC’s defense closing gaps on lesser ballhandlers, showing face in lanes.
When OKC’s run became an avalanche, it was because it continuously earned more possessions to drive New Orleans crazy. It forced 17 turnovers (and finished with just eight of its own), including five in the third quarter when its lead blossomed beyond repair.
Enacting that level of activity to force the Pelicans to guard more possessions (and for longer intervals) can feel just as backbreaking as it did defending New Orleans after each offensive rebound in Game 1. Those turnovers aren’t guaranteed. But the activity that leads to them is how OKC wins.
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Game 3: Thunder at Pelicans
TIPOFF: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans (BSOK, TNT)
