Dec. 24—OKLAHOMA CITY — Tre Mann had a chance to write a storybook ending to his last three days.

Mann was given the ball with a chance to win the game and drained the clock down to 25 seconds. Instead, Mann drove to the basket and missed the shot to send the game to overtime.

The New Orleans Pelicans dominated the five-minute extra period and outscored the Oklahoma City Thunder by three points in a 128-125 win on Friday.

The final shot attempt left many puzzled. While Mann played well in the recent G League Winter Showcase, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander — who scored a career-high 44 points — didn’t have an opportunity to seal the win in regulation.

After the game, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said the final play of regulation was designed to go to Gilgeous-Alexander but the Pelicans did a good job of denying him the ball.

Even with the final possession not going as planned, Daigneault had full confidence in Mann.

“We had confidence in Tre,” Daignault said. “He had it going a little bit. We just kind of inverted it and let him go.”

Alas, the ball rimmed out. After trailing by as many as 21 points, the Thunder used a 66-48 advantage in the second half to gradually chip away at the Pelicans’ massive lead and eventually take one of their own.

Here are three other thoughts from the Thunder’s three-point overtime loss to the Pelicans: Gilgeous-Alexander sets new career-high in points After scoring 42 points three separate times this season, Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 44 points on 17-of-29 shooting and went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line against the Pelicans.

Gilgeous-Alexander continues to strengthen a strong All-Star campaign as the MVP chants at Paycom Center grow louder with each home game.

Thunder rally from halftime deficit

The Thunder entered Friday with the best net rating in the league in third quarters this season, outscoring opponents by 13.8 points per 100 possessions.

They showed why against the Pelicans, outscoring them 31-16 in the third quarter. The Thunder cut an 18-point halftime deficit to three by the start of the fourth quarter.

It’s almost become a trend for the Thunder to trail by double digits early before making the game competitive in the second half, a sign of a young team still learning to win games.

Even though the results aren’t always going their way, it’s still valuable learning experiences that could pay dividends for the youngest roster in the league.

No Zion, no Brandon Ingram, no problem for the Pelicans The Pelicans entered Friday on the second night of a backto- back without its star duo of Williamson and Ingram.

Williamson was in health and safety protocols and Ingram was dealing with a big toe contusion.

Considering the Pelicans entered the game as the third seed in the Western Conference, it’s not surprising to see the rest of their team step up in the duo’s absence.

Trey Murphy III scored 23 points and Jaxson Hayes scored 21 points. CJ McCollum finished with 17 points and 11 assists. Naji Marshall scored 17 points and Herb Jones scored 15 points.

Overall, seven of the 10 players who checked in with the Pelicans scored at least 10 points.