Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander lead Thunder sweep of Pelicans

The Thunder showed their full potential and eliminated the New Orleans Pelicans with an included sweep.

NEW ORLEANS — Jalen Williams highlighted a 24-point performance with a stunning 3-pointer with three minutes left, and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 97-89 on Monday night to complete a four-game sweep in the first round. Qualifying series.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Oklahoma City, which trailed by five points in the fourth quarter before suddenly taking control with a combination of stifling defense and opportunistic shooting.

New Orleans led 80-75 and had a chance to build the largest lead of either team when Jose Alvarado blocked Gilgeous-Alexander and sent CJ McCollum the other way on a two-on-one break.

However, McCollum couldn't convert at the rim. Shortly after, Chet Holmgren and a 3-pointer from Josh Giede tied the score at 80, as the Thunder built a 93-82 lead, capped by two 3-pointers from Williams on the second chance. With 3:08 to play.

New Orleans, which played the entire series without star power forward Zion Williamson, never recovered.

Geddy and Holmgren each scored 14 points. Holmgren also had nine rebounds.

McCollum scored 20 points for New Orleans, which continued to suffer from poor three-point shooting. The Pelicans made just eight of their 34 shots from deep (23.5%).

Jonas Valanciunas scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, but he could have provided more had his presence on the field not been limited to 26 minutes due to a fatal error. Najee Marshall made half of the Pelicans' three-pointers and finished with 16 points.

The Thunder led 44-43 at halftime in a very competitive game through three quarters, with 18 lead changes and no team leading by more than five.

New Orleans stayed close despite Brandon Ingram missing nine of his first 10 shots and 12 of 14 in the game.

Ingram's free throws with 3 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Pelicans a 71-70 lead at the end of the period, but he finished with just eight points when more was needed from him with Williamson out of the lineup.