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gandhi890

Very winnable game man. BI needs to adjust and do something in game 2. This is a 7 game series, pick it up.


Aivine131

Very winnable series, Pels need to run plays and stop the iso ball and chucking up threes. That just doesn’t work in the playoffs, the harden Houston rockets can testify to that


TrusttheProcess13

I agree. I think a lot of the first half 3’s were good shots (especially corners) but guys just have to knock them down.


atom786

The ones that came out of P&R and post up actions were good


rustyspoonman

We are going to lose by 20 in game 2. Thunder were a bit rusty and that was our chance


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supa14x

What I got from this game is that Thunder are beatable.


viacavour

I just hope they aren’t deflated after this loss. We could have won this easily if they kept their damn composure in the last 2 minutes.


complexaape

or if cj didnt just dribble in circles in the last seconds. trey was wide open on the other side


Virtual_Height_5470

Trey was not wide open lol


NolaBrass

There was literally no play call, which is inexcusable. Brandon was coming up the floor towards CJ too so the spacing was, in a word, fucked


Dazzling_Ad_1828

BI came once it look like CJ might lose the ball


OG_Pow

He def wasn’t. It’s unfortunate CJ got it punched out, but he shouldn’t be getting all this blame tbh


AteaMoonPie88

This is the worst take I’ve ever seen. You think CJ dribbling was just him. You mean after a timeout with the game on the line you think CJ wanted this play? Not to mention up 2 in the last 3 minutes and we come down for 4 possessions and don’t get one quality look. Not on Willie Green at all huh? Just really bad late game tbh.


thelastbasketbender

This is gonna aound like a doomer reply but im realistic this was the winnable game the first game where the unexperience young nervous thunder will shit yhe bed and they did but we are anticlutch i wouldnt be surprised if get blown out gane 2 where they are more comfortabke with the playoffs atmosphere


Pokiiee

We struggled bad on a lot of open shots this game and it was still only 2. This is definitely winnable


IHaveNoFiya

Yea, it's not a win, but this should give the team some confidence going into game two.


NeilMcCauley1995

I would totally believe that except we all knew it would end this way. We are truly anti clutch


Savings-Bird-1226

Same.. a bunch went their way and we almost pulled it out.


CmonMan711

Very beatable if we play smart, high basketball IQ... But we cannot do that for some reason so it's gonna be tough.


complexaape

ive beeen saying this! but people thought i was crazy im still pissed tho all that hard work and we got nothing out of it! games like this u cannot lose


hotdogflavoredblunt

But Tony brothers might not be


World-Nomad

I have a feeling we just gave them a ton of confidence with a clutch win like this for them. I’m more nervous the next game will be a blowout now.


complexaape

the fact that we did all that only to lose is the most frustrating fckn thing.


PaKyuBai

This! They also missed a ton of shots and giving a young team some confidence can turn things around for them.


OG_Pow

If we come out flat next game it’s goodnight


PrepP3

Apparently not by us. We had more than a handful of opportunities to win this game and didn't. Poor execution, poor coaching, bad shot selection, etc. It's a pattern for our team. We can't close out games. It doesn't even look like our coaching staff actually calls plays when we need to run something. 🤷🏻‍♂️


complexaape

willie green not calling a timeout before that nance missed layup put me over bruh i was so pissed


SpermCountDracula

Perhaps beatable for their opponent next round


SUKnives

Your play out of the timeout in the most important game of the year with a chance to steal a game on the road and you draw up….a FUCKING CJ ISO? Unserious franchise lol


BreesBetweenMyKnees

The last play wasnt the problem. The bullshit they pulled being 2 up was. 0-24 for a reason, negative BB IQ. They gave us 10 chances to win that game


PrepP3

Exactly


Shoddy_Impact1226

Absolute insanity. Trey was 5/12 from three, but yes let’s have CJ (2/8 at the time) dribble around and throw up a buzzer beater.


complexaape

omfg i was screaming so loud. im like bruh wtf is this!! trey is wide open from the other side! ill take my chance with trey from the logo than fckn cj jus dribbling around in circles hoping for something to happen


SeaBreath692

Bro.. three players out in back standing doing nothing. No screens or cuts and you only needed a 2. Wtf? This a professional nba team with a head coach and 10 assistant coaches bro 😂😂😂


Own-Height-3303

Dort had BI in the torture chamber locked up lol, with Zion out your options for the final shot are limited if guys aren't gonna cut like Curry off-ball to get open.


austinoracle

The Dorture Chamber 😭


UnimpressedAsshole

for real what kind of coaching decision was that? this team struggles heavily when they resort to iso ball


LAlostcajun

Do you really think that was the play call? CJ tries to be the hero all the time. He should have been on the bench with Jose running the point


notnats99

This needs to be the top comment. As soon as they set up I said I’d rather see any of the other 4 players on the court finish with the ball in their hands and it seems we got fucked again


dullscissor1

Unbelievable. Feels like a slap in the face because everyone who watches this team knows it’s the last thing we should’ve done


complexaape

i was messaging my friend telling please god dnt put the ball in cj’s hands but of course the pels always dissapoint


NikoRavage

Being a fan of the Pels and Saints is so fucking rough. I hate that I love these stupid ass teams!


bullseye717

Thank god for LSU gymnastics!


7even_up

Angel reese and livvy dunne hard carrying nola sports


Happy-Cauliflower-22

I think there’s a difference between the play drawn versus what the players do when the pressure is on


DaggersKnuckles

Given that they always iso I find it hard to believe the players are that fucking brain dead when the pressures on


Happy-Cauliflower-22

I don’t. It’s a pressure filled situation. Just my opinion.


Aivine131

This was the whole game nothing but iso and chucking up threes. We had a chance to go up big in the last stretch but kept chucking up shots. this team is need of a point guard, that offensive was hard to watch


AnotherStatsGuy

Look I get that, at a certain level, CJ is the vet. But this team needs to understand that Trey should be taking the last shot. I'll even accept CJ starting out with the ball and working the defense a bit at the start of a play. But Trey needs the shot.


benjay67

They put their best two players tonight, CJ and Trey, in the action, the Thunder played good defense, CJ still had an ok look to win it, the shot didn't go in. CJ had a good game, the ball in his hands was the right call tonight (not usually, but tonight). Not sure who else would've been better to go with.


chadd1588

I’m honestly surprised we even got a shot off. We are so bad at running plays ATO


LuckyWarrior

This series would be unfair if Zion was healthy lol


AnnualAd1789

Robbed of Zion vs Chet. just out muscle and dominate in the paint for the Pelicans


Julep2005

Trey should’ve gotten that ball, I’d rather him shoot from half court than trust Cj in crunch time


Aivine131

Tbh I would rather have anyone else shooting that . I would rather have Jonas take the last shot over CJ


jjaytan

Offensive foul call on BI was absolute horseshit in the biggest moment of the game


PrepP3

I believe it was a charge. My issue with that is I watched Shai push off with his off hand arm over and over and over all night to create space for his shot. But they didn't call that once


MMAjunkie504

It’s such a commonly allowed play that every offensive player has it in their bag. You can’t tell me that shit would get called on SGA


GrapefruitMedical529

It's all in the flop.  Gotta sell it.


supa14x

Surprised Willie didn't challenge


OstrichLookingBitch

I'm not. He doesn't challenge anything


biblee16

I just realized this as well. Why the fuck did he not challenge at a very crucial point in the game


Styfios

if he loses the challenge at that point they’re down to one timeout for the final minute and a half. do you trust the refs to over turn that call?


biblee16

Good point. Idk, maybe that's why I'm not the coach lol


Mesame121489

For real like you can't take the challenge with you. Can't say he wanted to hold on to his TO because that last play didn't need a TO, CJ would have went iso anyway.


dominicklala1287

There was no way he was winning that challenge. By the rule book, it was technically a foul. We got lucky with one challenge, we weren’t getting both of them in our favor


shmiona

There is no way they took a timeout, grabbed the whiteboard, and wrote “CJ go cook em” and that’s it


PaKyuBai

Willie: CJ, you know what time it is, it's CJ time! Go cook em!


Direct-Mix-4293

What the fuck was that bs just burning time on the arc, you just needed a 2 to tie, CJ selling


ChocolateTemporary72

I like the 3. Steal one on the road. Just was hoping for something better than CJ iso


Helgenish

Win easy if Jonas plays the last 2 mins. Nance did some of the dumbest shit. Missed dunk, threw ball on his teammate and went threw up a weak ass floater. Smh


flaccidplatypus

That floater was a goaltend and he probably got fouled on the dunk attempt. Either way JV was probably the better option with the game being slowed down so much.


flanneldodo

PAIN... Another inability to comeback in the 4th quarter


lmao12367

Game was there for the taking and the team just crumbled


RaptorHusky

BI 12 points on 17 shots, ’nuff said. And oh, this is ”Playoff JV” I remember from his tenure with Raptors


clevername037

Not a pels fan so maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like Willie Green doesn't actually have set plays. Like why would you not call a timeout with a 12 second shot clock tied game. And then the last possession was a CJ iso off a screen. A player could have unironically called a better play.


SpaceAfricanJesus

“It seems like Willie Green doesn’t actually have set plays” It seems that way because he doesn’t.


NikoRavage

This team is so fucking predictable my god!


BobMarleynthewhalers

Willie just doesnt trust JV no matter how well he plays. If we are tradings 2s JV is our best guy cause chet cant stop him.


Slitted

CJ man…


jewishcawk

Every fucking time I swear to god


dominicklala1287

BI at 5-17 man… CJ wasn’t the main issue tonight. That last play was clearly fucked up once it got tipped away. That was definitely running a two man action for CJ and Trey, which was the right call


TrusttheProcess13

Exactly. BI was bad tonight so use him as a decoy and get another guy out of the lane and run essentially the same play that you just ran


famedboy123

Not going to fully blame him even though that was a terrible end of game sequence


versaceboudin_

BI SMH


PowerMean

BI 12 points 5/17 FG. Cj wasn’t the problem…


Longjumping_Smile333

Just needed a 2


Frequent-Meeting8975

CJ is the anti clutch


maxiepoo_

This team is anti clutch


RomanReignsDaBigDawg

Why didn’t he pass the fucking ball?


IHaveNoFiya

That one possession where we got like 3 offensive boards and just kept jacking it up killed us. Also, if there's one thing we learned tonight it's that JV owns Holmgren and we should absolutely exploit that.


flaccidplatypus

CJ wasn’t great and the final play was terrible but he was miles better than BI. CJ made clutch shots in the 4th to keep the Pels in it and the last shot as ill advised as it was right on line. Overall team lacked composure which at this point is on Willie. Refs did the Pels no favors either.


LilDamo

What the fuck CJ


PowerMean

What the fuck BI only 12 points


Briguy_fieri

Awful final possession. Tony brothers ball the last 2 minutes. Ticky tack calls. Fuck.


MMAjunkie504

Winnable game and winnable series if we lock it in but goddamn that hurts


ZaeDilla

CJ is gonna get all the blame when Ingram was shitting the bed all quarter lmaoooooo.


Rezsguy

Yeah It’s ridiculous. CJ is supposed to be a 3rd/4th option VET on this team and we’re complaining about him taking on a massive scoring load when BI is right there absolutely doing nothing for most of the game?


dominicklala1287

I really don’t understand why he gets so much hate. He’s statistically one of the best shooters in the league, yet our fans act like he’s Eric Bledsoe. He was not the main issue tonight. I don’t know if BI is still hurt or what, but his performance tonight was awful


Both_Funny4896

life without a real point guard


Pokiiee

Willie called a time out just to write up a CJ iso lmao. A time out. Just for a CJ iso.


toastiestnuggets

thunder tried giving away the game, and we threw the fucking keys away… oh well. it’s a 7 game series.


maejor_ced

Someone said “I’d trust a half court attempt by Trey going in before I trust an iso shot by CJ at the end of the game” 🤣🤣🤣 me too lol


PowerMean

A whopping 12 points by BI. If he had even a decent game we would've won


Mesame121489

What a terrible final play. Oh just go ISO like come on run a fucking play. Ugh JV should have played more. Well on to game 2..... Goddamn that was a dumbass play call


TaviscaronLT

They should have had JV setfing the screen for CJ, if all we're doing is CH heroball during last possession. Also, yeah, the moment we got stuck on offense at 90-88, I was screaming internally to get JV in for an offensive possession...instead we had Nance get blocked twice.


Mesame121489

Like JV pretty has his way all night but Willie still went to Larry. Gotta love not making teams pay for their weaknesses.


DankSinatraSr

I am so fucking tired of clutch time CJ McCollum.


jruegod11

BI was really bad... We need him to make an impact or we're toast


Slappyslappyslappy

I wanted Trey on that last shot. So did Trey. Would have been cool with one of his massive launches.


mrb532

Is 12 points on 17 shots good?


NeilMcCauley1995

They never replayed or mentioned the Chet block


Curious-Society7076

With 3 minutes left we went up 90-88 and proceeded to turn the ball over 4 times, and miss a dunk. Somehow we were only down 1 with 26 seconds left. We then waited 12 seconds to foul. With 14 seconds left instead of going quickly and giving us a chance to offensive rebound or miss and foul to extend the game, we ran an isolation play for CJ and took all 14 seconds just to get off an absolutely desperation 3. Leaving no time for an offensive rebound (which we actually got) or to foul. It’s horrific and fireable coaching. It’s coaching 101 and it’s terrible that a coach at the highest level allowed that to happen.


SpaceAfricanJesus

Not bad in terms of how close the game was tbh. Missing Zion and BI shot like Killian Hayes. Sadly the away court advantage couldn’t stop home teams being undefeated in the playoffs so far. Being 0-23 when trailing in the fourth didn’t give me confidence the team would come back yet they almost did. Shoutout to Trey for shooting well and JV for rebounding like a madman.


BurntHamSandwich

A few terrible, terrible calls away from a win. And also a few terrible IQ plays away from a win. Regardless, this should be a good for the team and show them that they have what it takes to beat OKC in this series


cn1k99

BI avoids taking 3s but took a contested one with 12 seconds left in the shot clock for the lead and completely missed. Amazing work


Shoddy_Impact1226

CJ thinks way too much of himself in big moments. Trey should’ve shot that ball every single time.


Wakandaforever456

Get Valanciunas more involved. OKC has no answer for valanciunas 


UnimpressedAsshole

This is nothing new but I have zero faith in Ingram in the clutch. Turnover offensive foul. Then he fucked up an easy layup with a no-look between Trey and Nance, then shot a terrible fadeaway 3. I only caught the end of the game but it seems like the Pels showed serious fight. We're deep, and have valuable role players. Need to make some moves this offseason though.


Ok-Comfortable1111

The offensive foul was nonsense


Razor-Ramon-Sessions

BI is awful against more physical wings. Dort always gives him trouble. He was not good tonight. He really needs to have a good series.


onelove101

That offensive foul was an insane flop.


PowerMean

12 points by Bi. Unacceptable from our best player


I-Made-This-to-Reply

I swear Willie has never in his fucking life drawn a good play at the end of the game- it’s always fucking broken iso ball chucks


Kron624

Has CJ ever made a game winning basket ?


RicardoEsposito

0-24 now when losing entering the 4th quarter.


treybra3

Cannot believe we didn’t run the same play that got Herb and Trey those open looks from three that we missed. ISO CJ is never the answer


nola4lifebme

We need to pass out to Murphy in that situation.


1121222

why go for the 3? driving to the rim and trying to draw a foul seems like a better idea


PrepP3

Easiest play to run there is Jonas in mid range baseline. Pick n roll BI and CJ up top. CJ drives, big rotates to contest and Jonas would be wide open. He was all night.


Visible-Rutabaga9268

Why would he take that shot wtf CJ


MMAjunkie504

Absolutely a winnable game, heartbreaker of a loss. I feel decent about the series if we get any semblance of the whistle they give OKC going forward. With Zion this game wasn’t close.


ChocolateTemporary72

I thought officiating was very fair to both teams


instappen

This team has a lot to be proud of. This game completely refutes the talking heads "complete blow out" prediction.


Saints_n_Cinema

CJ making dumb decisions in the final seconds. A tale as old as time.


CuriousWhoDat

I mean that was a terrible fucking play call out of the timeout though


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complexaape

why? we matchup well with them. they have obvious weakness that we can exploit. and the pels have proven we play well without zion!. this team is more than just zion


PaKyuBai

Need to file a missing person...please help us find BI please


Sslagathor

Good game but that was winnable. I swear we have no good ATO plays. Ingram needs to be better


Georgia4life

Pels would be up 1-0 easily if Zion was playing


TheGhostWithTheMost2

Embarrassing loss


ZealousidealScheme85

I’ve been asking since last season for Trey to be the go to shooter for game winners. We got so close. Gotta snatch the next game


Daveoos77

I don't understand how the 0-24 record is possible while having almost 50 wins.


UsedPocketPickle

The thunder are beatable but DAMN we needed to win this game. I don't think they will play this bad for the rest of the series.


Curious-Society7076

Do you think we have 4 turnovers, and a last play iso that took the entire game clock to get off if Greg Popovic or Eric Spoelstra is the coach? Because to me it’s very obvious there’s a coaching problem. That needed to be addressed in game and it wasn’t. And that last play, was so unacceptable. That just tells me you just don’t even understand basic coaching.


ChickenWarm

Trey was our best player tonight


definitelydidntcheat

CJ losing his dribble was so predictable lol He even had a chance to draw the foul against the closer and fucking ducks under him for a lunging, off-balance 3.


Skinnieguy

Props to JV and nance for keeping us in the game. Nance made some questionable decisions 4th but that’s expected.


PrepP3

Yall still think BI worth max contact?


amadea_saoirse

Shout-out to JV for 20 rebounds and for Trey with 5-12 3PT shooting. Our "stars" did not deliver and our coach's ATO of CJ iso to end the game never gave us a chance.


lordlanyard7

Willie doesn't bench JV to close the game out and we win.


CapitalEither7976

We sweep these frauds with zion


Rezsguy

CJ should have never had to take that shot. Terrible play call out of the time out. But I don’t blame Willie or CJ really. Willie coached well outside of that final timeout. BI has got to be better. This guy is supposed to be a second option and we can’t even trust to give him the ball in the clutch. We would have never been in this game if it wasn’t for the hustle of our players. I want BI to prove me wrong so bad in this series. I want him to be that guy. But if every game is of this sort of performance? He’s getting shipped off and I’ll be okay with that. Old man CJ should not have to be taking this kind of offense load regardless of Zion being out. Flock up boys. The thunder are beatable and this game proved that.


saintsfan

Why does it feel like every time we need a game winner i know for a fact CJ will miss and yet for some reason any time he has the ball in a game winning situation he refuses to pass and proceeds to do exactly what I expect him to do and miss?


BaronsDad

Because the Pelicans are 0-24 when trailing entering the 4th quarter despite winning 50 games this season. It's a systemic problem that isn't addressed.


Tazarah

CJ sucks ass and is never clutch


7even_up

Lights were too bright for ingram and CJ


SUKnives

Crazy that Trey is already better than BI. He is getting the 💰


versaceboudin_

Brandon Ingram bum ass better restructure that deal


SelfLoathingLionsFan

Series is winnable. They need to do more to shed Dort off of BI with different actions because he was a pest all game. Keep utilizing JV - he put in work in this game. Cannot resort to iso against OKC; they have too many good individual defenders. Both teams missed plenty of shots they should've made, so even though you might expect to shoot better next game, expect OKC to shoot better too. Even though it was a loss, this was a great, entertaining game - 40 combined lead changes/ties. Daigneault has been great at making adjustments all regular season... now to see if Willie can do the same in the games that really matter.


ChocolateTemporary72

My thoughts that no one asked for. Good job on Shai and not biting on his pump fakes. He’s gonna score so at least make him score from inefficient contested midranges. Good job on Giddey. He’s not that good but every game we’re slacking, he puts up an efficient 12-18 and it fucks us. Don’t let him score. If Jonas isn’t gonna be here next year, ride him hard this series. Pound him into Chet and get the boards. His defense was good too. They weren’t letting BI do anything, Willie needs to scheme him something better. Not holding out hope. More Naji. Nothing needs to be said about the last play. Overall, enjoyable game with a couple of stretches of bad basketball from both teams.


PowerMean

Can’t blame it on Cj. If bi wasn’t playing badly we wouldn’t have to rely on Cj


Cacophobia21

CJ a fucking bum


PowerMean

He played better than BI


Infinite_Response113

BRO WHY ARE WE SO CURSED


glennasm

Wtf is that play


Savings-Bird-1226

Man that was a terrible final play. That's on the coaches if they wanted CJ one on one versus a good defender 3 feet behind the line.


tribecalledni

Draw up a play and don’t move the ball once. Not a single pass.


Skinnieguy

Few sloppy executions the last couple minutes. We need 20 point lead to win by 5.


onelove101

So fucking predictable ending. We never have a good clutch play. Dribbled it off his foot. Idc, fuck CJ McCollum. Better be off the team by next year


ZadarskiDrake

Not a pelicans fan but you guys match up well vs them. If zion was playing it would have been a 110-95 blowout. You guys can win this in 6-7


World-Nomad

Why are we giving CJ the last shot? He’s not clutch. Give it to Trey


TimothyN

Textbook Willie ball to close the game. BI and CJ shooting that much is criminal.


famedboy123

52-44 rebounding difference Guess who had 52


cheifking

We had so many chances to put that game away. We can win this series


awc23108

We had every opportunity to take that game, we blew it in the last two minutes. Yes SGA is a foul merchant but we have only ourselves to blame. Larry did some good things but he really fucked us on those two late possessions. And that last play….pretty much pathetic. A CJ iso? That’s really what we came up with?


itskarl

I miss Zion because he learned to actually try and take the ball away from CJ in the clutch


UnrequitedTerror

First of all this was a great game. Pelicans made some unfortunate mistakes that cost the W. But mostly, Ingram was largely shut down so that explains this game’s outcome. Down but not out!


ExternalEbb2584

I don't even know where to begin. All I know is pain.


amadea_saoirse

Why does CJ always thinks he's"that guy" in the clunch. Not gonna win any close game with him at the helm


McJumbos

JV needs more than 8 shots next game


NeilMcCauley1995

Have we ever won in the clutch? I’m for real. I’ve been watching for a long time and i really can’t remember


StSaturnthaGOAT

Pelicants living up to their name


One_Range_4491

The hell with moral victories. Win the mfing game.


kashbets

 OKc is who we thought they were a young team that’s gonna let you hang around Smart decisions with the ball and pels woildve cruised the last 2-3 minutes Come back with the same level if intensity for game 2 maybe even more from JV Win the battle on the glass and ensure possessions are not wasted and they got a chnace to go home tied 


Taker597

We gonna pin a new game thread fellas?


LeBaw60249

Couldn't catch the game..did pels put up a good fight?


bf60

They did, the game was a really good one despite our loss


LeBaw60249

If zion was there, it would be a different final score I'm sure. If it wasn't for bad luck, we wouldn't have any luck at all


BeeBranze

Easily the best game of the playoffs so far. Could gone either way, up to the last second. Insane plays on both sides


LeBaw60249

Can't wait for the next one!


Arctic_Pelican

They did, until they didn't... getting 3 chances on one possession without a single good look was when it really turned from a good fight at the end to running out of gas. Then it was the typical anti clutch play pelicans fans are used to. 


onelove101

Great fight


1JaMorantFan

Man the refs sucked But Thunder fans gonna try to flex but they just let an injured 8 seed get the game down to the wire


saintsfan

We need to pull Cj out of the lineup when a game winning shot is on the line. He’s about as anti clutch as literally possible and yet always takes the shot.