Oklahoma City Thunder Guard Josh Giddey Did Wonders In The Game Against Pelicans

Josh Giddey equalled his previous career best of 31 points on Wednesday night as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 123-118 to advance to the Western Conference play-in round. He also had 10 assists and 9 rebounds.

Oklahoma City Thunder Guard Josh Giddey Did Wonders In The Game Against the Pelicans

The ninth-seeded Pelicans were eliminated after the defeat, while the 10th-seeded Oklahoma City advanced and will play at Minnesota on Friday night for the chance to move as an eighth seed and face No. 1 Denver in the NBA playoffs.

“It was pretty much everything I expected; a loud, hostile environment,” the 20-year-old Australian said of his playoff debut. “And it’s going to be a similar environment in a do-or-die game (against the Timberwolves).”

The Thunder were the youngest team in the NBA, but what made them the most amazing was how they handled pressure while maintaining composure. Brandon Ingram repeatedly appeared to be the Pelicans’ best hope of winning the game late in the fourth quarter, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder held on.

Josh Giddey was very pleased of the Thunder team for acting with the maturity appropriate for a team with greater experience.

“Lu [Dort], Dub [Jalen Williams], our primary defenders, did an awesome job. But credit to the group. It was a resilient night. They keep making runs, they go in front with a couple minutes left. But we stuck with it, grinded out a big win in a tough environment to play in,”Giddey said after the game, per the official Thunder Twitter account.

Giddey, while having the game of his life, recognises that their triumph is the result of a team effort as he is eager to give his colleagues praise for doing their tasks to the letter.

“I felt good, got into a little bit of a rhythm coming out of halftime. You know obviously with teams throwing double teams to Shai, other guys are gonna have to step up and make plays. I was trying to do that tonight. We had a lot of guys contribute in a big way tonight and that’s what we need and we’re gonna continue to need going forward,” Giddey added.

Twitter was a-buzz at his outstanding performance.

 

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