Is Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing tonight against New Orleans Pelicans? Looking at Thunder's guard's status for Game 3 (April 27)

The OKC Thunder have listed All-Star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander available for Game 3 of the first-round Western Conference series against the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Thunder cruised to a decisive 124-92 win in Game 2 of the series at home on Wednesday night, easily covering the spread as 7.5-point favorites, and taking a commanding lead in the series.

In the all-time regular season series between the teams, the Thunder holds a 42-32 lead and won two of the three matchups this season. This is the first playoff series between the two franchises, with the Thunder currently holding a 2-0 advantage in head-to-head postseason victories.

Oklahoma City bounced back from a tense opening game to decisively win Game 2, fueled by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 33 points, Chet Holmgren's 26 points, and Jalen Williams' 21 points. Overall, the Thunder shot an impressive 59% from the field, including 14 of 29 from beyond the 3-point line.

In Game 2, the Thunder demonstrated why they are the top seed in the Western Conference, showing significant improvement from the first game against the Pelicans.

Heading into New Orleans, they now average 109.0 points per game for the series and are shooting 51.0% from the field. From the distance, the Thunder are hitting 31.0% with an average of 12 3-pointers made per game.

Defensively, they have been stout, allowing just 92.0 points per game and holding the Pelicans to 41.0% shooting. Although rebounding has been a challenge throughout the season, the Thunder have been outrebounded by only three in the series and have kept their turnovers to an average of 10.5 per game.

What happened to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander sustained a right quad contusion, which sidelined him for a total of six games. He disclosed that the injury had been troubling him since the March 20 game against Utah Jazz.

Consequently, his performance dipped over the next four games, during which he averaged lower-than-usual figures of 19.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game. Additionally, his shooting efficiency decreased, with his field goal percentage falling to 44.1% and his 3-point shooting dropping to just 20.0%.

How to watch OKC Thunder vs New Orleans Pelicans?

The highly anticipated Game 3 between the OKC Thunder and the New Orleans Pelicans will tipoff at 3:30 p.m. ET at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

The game will be nationally televised on TNT, including local streaming options available on Bally Sports New Orleans and Bally Sports OK for home and away coverage.