Eric Gordon getting his first taste of the NBA Playoffs

It took him seven seasons, but Eric Gordon is finally in the NBA Playoffs.

The 26-year-old Indianapolis product is in his fourth season playing for the New Orleans Pelicans, who qualified for postseason play as the Western Conference’s eighth seed. As a result, they have their hands full against the league’s best team, the Golden State Warriors (67-15).

Gordon missed 21 games this season due to a shoulder injury. He held off having surgery because he wanted to see just how far they could go.

“So proud of this team for fighting all season long,” Gordon wrote in an Instagram post after securing their playoff spot. “Decided not to have shoulder surgery because I knew this was a special team that could make the playoffs.”

Last summer, after after another knee operation, he discussed their progress in New Orleans.

“It’s a weird situation for everyone down there,” he told me last June. “We are a young team that’s had a lot of injuries over the past years. We kind of underachieved and we’re looking that opportunity where we can get everybody healthy and everybody back on the same page. I think once we start winning and make the playoffs, all the bad noise that has been talking about us will go away.”

Goal achieved.

#WeMadeIt pic.twitter.com/W1UeUJxoAS

— Eric Gordon (@TheofficialEG10) April 16, 2015

On a balanced team led by Anthony Davis, Gordon saw his scoring average dip to 13.4 points per game, the lowest of his injury-filled NBA career. However, he averaged a career-best 3.8 assists and converted on 44.8 percent of this 3-pointers, which was second only to Atlanta’s Kyle Korver.

Gordon has provided the Pelicans with what they have needed this season, a 3-point threat who can space the floor and find open teammates.

In two playoff games so far against the Warriors — both losses — Gordon has scored 16 and 23 points, respectively, and buried 9-of-17 shots from beyond the arc.

His little brother, Eron, liked what he saw Monday night:

Bro is splashin

— Eron Gordon (@EronGordon1) April 21, 2015

“Just making shots,” he told reporters after Monday’s loss in Golden State, where the Warriors are 41-2 this season. “That’s what it is going to boil down to.”

It’s been fun to closely follow his career since his freshman year at North Central. He’s a starter on an NBA playoff team, and on the third year of a four-year max deal. Like Roy Hibbert, he has a player option for next season worth $15.5 million.