Giddey, other young guns play big as Thunder oust Pelicans

LOS ANGELES – Rising Australian star Josh Giddey and the rest of Oklahoma City’s youthful lineup showed tremendous poise under pressure to eliminate the New Orleans Pelicans with a gritty 123-118 win Wednesday (Thursday, Manila time).

That result means the Thunder will face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday (Saturday in Manila) with the chance to advance into the playoffs, while the Pelicans are now eliminated.

The Melbourne-born Giddey — still only 20 — produced a stunning performance with 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the oldest member of the Thunder starting lineup at 24, also came up big with 32 points, while the 23-year-old Lu Dort finished with 27 points.

It was another remarkable display by Oklahoma City, whose starting line-up had an average age of just over 21. The game was also Giddey's first experience of high-pressure postseason basketball.

"It was pretty much everything I expected," Giddey told ESPN afterwards. "A loud crowd, a hostile environment. As a kid you grow up wanting to be in these type of moments. 

"I'm glad we came out of here with a win and we move on to the next one.

Gilgeous-Alexander said Oklahoma City's young squad had developed poise under pressure after being "battle-tested" throughout the regular season.

"We've played in a lot of close games and we've developed good habits — we know what gets it done down the stretch," Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Giddey was already looking ahead to Friday's date in Minneapolis.

"It's going to be a similar environment — hostile, on the road, a do-or-die game," Giddey said.

"It's going to be another test, but as Shai said — we've had a lot of close games and none of these moments rattle our guys. We'll be ready for Minnesota."