NBA highlights on April 24: Thunder showcase dominance in win over Pelicans

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-92 in Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference first-round playoffs at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Wednesday, extending their lead to 2-0 in the series.

The gap between the West's No. 1 seed, the Thunder, and the conference's No. 8 seed, the Pelicans, was not as apparent in Game 1 on April 21, as the Thunder won by only two points (94-92). However, the Thunder conceded as many points on Wednesday night but outscored them by as many as 32 points this time.

The battle between the team's starting centers, Jonas Valanciunas on the Pelicans' side and his Thunder counterpart Chet Holmgren, was the most eye-catching part at the beginning of Game 2. Valanciunas made good use of his advantages in size, power and posting skills to shoot 5-for-7 to get 11 points in the first quarter. Holmgren responded with 15 points after making all five of his field goals (FGs) in the period. Three of his shots were knocked down from downtown, where Valanciunas was too slow to cover.

Holmgren was not the only Thunder player who shot to kill behind the arc. The whole team went 14-for-29 from the outside. In fact, their 3-point rate would have been even higher if it weren't held down by the poor shooting performance of players from the end of the bench during garbage time in the fourth quarter.

Luguentz Dort drained a court-high four triples out of six attempts for the Thunder and continued to do a great job of containing the Pelicans' ace, Brandon Ingram. He constantly attacked Ingram's dribbling hand, keeping his target from finding his shooting rhythm. Meanwhile, Dort, like an unmovable object, refused to give Ingram any way toward the rim with his strong body. When Ingram slowed down, he had to stay alert for help defense by Holmgren.

Ingram apparently wanted to pick up leadership for the Pelicans. He earned a game-high eight free throws, made all of them and shot 50 percent from the field. Nonetheless, his impatience also cost him in two offensive fouls. Besides, neither he nor the Pelicans found a way to set up enough opportunities for him to shoot comfortably in his sweet spots. Ingram needed to fire more than 10 FGs if he wanted to make a difference for his team.

By contrast, Shai Gilgeous Alexander (SGA) showed the NBA why he was one of the finalists for the regular season Most Valuable Player (MVP) award with 33 points, five assists and two steals. He went 13-for-19 from the field and made three triples out of five attempts. The Pelicans continued to send big wingmen with remarkable wingspans like Herbert Jones and Trey Murphy III to contain him, but SGA responded with authority by making multiple tough jumpers.

Game 3 of the series will happen at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday.

Never, ever underestimate Miami Heat

The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics 111-101 in Game 2 of the NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoffs at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, on Wednesday, tying the series 1-1.

The Heat continued to lack their best player, Jimmy Butler, and perimeter playmaker Terry Rozier III on Wednesday night, but the team conquered the home court of the league's No. 1 team by knocking down a record 23 3-pointers out of 43 attempts. Tyler Herro, Caleb Martin, Jaime Jaquez Jr., Nikola Jovic and Haywood Highsmith all made three or more shots from downtown at a the rate of 50 percent or higher.

Herro contributed a double-double of 24 points and 14 assists with only three turnovers. Nine of his assists were delivered in the second half, during which the Heat outscored their opponents 53-40. Bam Adebayo didn't join his teammates in raining 3-pointers at TD Garden, but he attacked with excellent efficiency in the paint, making eight of his 11 attempts. His quickness in attacking off the dribble defied any precautions of Kristaps Porzingis.

The Celtics defeated the Heat 114-94 in Game 1 of the series on April 21. Perhaps that victory came too easy for them to make a plan B in case the opponents stopped at nothing to shut them down outside the 3-point line. The Heat did their best in beating screens and rotating quickly to deflect as many 3-pointers shot by the Celtics as possible. As a result, the home team shot 32 triples and made 10 of them, both much fewer than their season average on the two fronts.

The Celtics' star duo, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, combined to go 23-for-43 in FGs to score 61 points. They were not bad in either production or efficiency, but neither managed to step up to save the day in the final period that mattered the most. Tatum had only four points, and Brown got five in this quarter. In the end, the team had to count on Derrick White to carry their offense. He drained two triples and scored nine points for the Celtics in the period, but it was not enough to reverse the situation.

Game 3 of the series will take place at Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida, on Saturday.