3 Takeaways from epic Game 1 escape for Thunder vs the Pelicans

2. Jitters, jitters, jitters

It has been said so many times, but the Thunder are not just the youngest team in this year's playoffs but, frankly, the youngest first seed ever to enter the festivities. 

This distinction comes with great expectations and great doubts.

Naturally, the youthful squad is still getting their feet wet in the playoff rounds so some early jitters were on full display throughout Game 1. 

The Thunder recorded 13 turnovers in the game, with star Gilgeous-Alexander accounting for three in the fourth quarter alone. 

The 25-year-old first turned the ball over off a lazy pass to the baseline, before losing the ball in a dig by Larry Nance on his drive. His last turnover was a miscue to a lifting Lu Dort in the left-side corner in the midst of a dry spell that lasted over three minutes in the fourth quarter. 

While these can be seen as the Pelicans clamping down the Thunder down the stretch, it can also be perceived as a manifestation of Oklahoma City's clutch time jitters under the playoffs’ bright lights. Shai, nevertheless, masked all these with some big hits in the final minute. 

This is to be expected for a young team, and the Thunder faithful are surely glad that it was not a pitfall in Game 1. 

It will be interesting to keep an eye on how much jitter will be present during the coming games for this youth-filled squad.