The youngest team in the playoffs is only raising its game in the playoffs

Top-seeded Thunder move one win from sweep of eighth-seed New Orleans

New Orleans forward Brandon Ingram goes to the basket against Oklahoma City guard Luguentz Dort and forward Chet Holmgren during the second half Saturday in New Orleans. The Thunder prevailed 106-85, taking a 3-0 lead in the series. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Where to begin?

As difficult as it’s been for Brandon Ingram to get shots up while guarded by Lu Dort since this Oklahoma City-New Orleans series began, it’s equally difficult coming up with a starting point on the Thunder’s 106-85 Saturday afternoon victory over the Pelicans.

Indeed, it’s hard not to go with Dort for all the defense he played, typified by an early third-quarter backcourt dive at a loose ball that created one of the Pelicans’ 20 home-court turnovers, prompting Reggie Miller, part of TNT’s three-man broadcasting crew, to gush, “This is how you build championship winning habits.”

But is that any more a keeper than Dort’s role in a 15-0 second-quarter explosion spanning just 101 seconds, a run sparked by a consecutive trio of Dort trifectas causing play-by-play man Kevin Harlan, as only he can, to exclaim, “He is a flamethrower.”

Or do you begin with Dort at all given Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led OKC with 24 points, followed by 21, nine rebounds and five assists from Jalen Williams and 21, eight boards and six helpers from Josh Giddey?

You could even begin with Chet Holmgren, who scored just six points on 2 of 8 shooting, yet blocked four Pelican attempts, seemingly all of them would-be dunks, changed other shots and went a long way toward New Orleans having next to nothing left by, say, the midway point of the third quarter.

Three games into the playoffs and it’s an embarrassment of riches for the No. 1-in-the-West seeded Thunder, who now own a 3-0 advantage over the No. 8 Pelicans and appear well on their way to a sweep they can lock down when Game 4 arrives Monday night in New Orleans, perhaps six whole days before the Mavericks and Clippers finish their scrum, the winner of which would gain a spot on OKC’s docket.

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