For a half on Tuesday, the Minnesota Timberwolves contained the Thunder offense and threatened to steal Game 1 of the Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City.
But as it’s done throughout the playoffs, Oklahoma City’s depth proved to be too much. The Thunder rode a 10-0 run to a 14-point third-quarter advantage to open up the game en route to a runaway 114-88 win.
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After Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled early from the field against physical defense and double-teams, three of his fellow Thunder starters joined him in double figures. And Oklahoma City’s bench proved again to be the superior unit as Minnesota’s struggled to keep pace.
The Thunder took control in the third quarter after trailing 48-44 in the first half, when Gilgeous-Alexander shot 2 of 13 from the field. But he found his stroke after the break, shooting 8 of 14, and finished with a game-high 31 points alongside 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals.
Things get chippy between SGA, Anthony Edwards
While Gilgeous-Alexander struggled early from the field, he had no problems getting to the line. The presumed MVP attempted seven three throws in the first quarter as Oklahoma City built an 11-1 advantage at the free-throw line.
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It was typical of Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished second in the league in free-throw attempts in the regular season and drew criticism from some as a perceived free-throw merchant. Edwards appeared to be irked at Gilgeous-Alexander’s penchant for drawing early fouls and tossed the ball at the Thunder guard when he was sprawled on the floor following a foul by Jaden McDaniels.
The incident drew a technical foul for Edwards, who wasn’t done expressing his frustration.
In the third quarter, Edwards chased Gilgeous-Alexander from behind, and Gilgeous-Alexander fell to the floor after contact. Edwards did not let him up. The initial contact didn’t draw a foul. But Edwards stood over him to prevent him from standing up, and officials had seen enough. They whistled Edwards for a personal foul.
The interactions set a chippy tone between the teams’ two superstars.
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Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game shooting 11 of 14 at the line. The Thunder had a 26-21 advantage in free-throw attempts for the game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander outplayed Anthony Edwards to lead the Thunder to a Game 1 win. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Julius Randle starts hot, fades late
The first half belonged to Julius Randle. As Minnesota limited Oklahoma City to 44 first-half points, Randle paced the Timberwolves offense with 20 points en route to the four-point Minnesota lead at the break. He got there thanks to a 5-for-6 effort from 3-point distance that set a career playoff high for made 3s, which he reached in the second quarter.
But Randle and the Timberwolves slowed down after the break. Randle attempted just one field goal in the third quarter and made none. As Oklahoma City reeled off 32 points in the quarter, Minnesota scored just 18.
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Randle scored eight points in the fourth quarter after the Thunder had seized control and finished with 28 points and eight rebounds. He shot 9 of 13 from the field, but didn’t take another 3-pointer after his 5-of-6 effort in the first half.
Edwards finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists. No other Timberwolves starter scored more than seven points. Oklahoma City blitzed Minnesota with a 70-40 advantage in the second half.
OKC’s bench gets the job done — again
The Thunder got this far in part by fielding arguably the deepest roster in basketball, and it paid off again on Tuesday. Eight Thunder bench players finished a collective plus-70 in the plus/minus column while none registered a negative number.
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Meanwhile, each Timberwolves bench player registered a negative number as eight players totaled a collective -83.
Oklahoma City’s bench unit largely got the job done with efficiency and on defense. Minnesota’s reserves shot a combined 9 of 41 (21.9%) from the field. Donte DiVincenzo led Timberwolves backups with nine points, but did so on a 3-of-14 effort from the field and 3-of-12 clip from 3-point distance.
Naz Reid finished 1 of 11 from the field and missed all seven of his 3-point attempts. Nickeil Alexander-Walker shot 3 of 11 from the field and 2 of 9 from 3.
Oklahoma City’s bench that featured heavy minutes from Cason Wallace (3 points, 7 assists, 1 steal, plus-21 in 33 minutes) and Alex Caruso (9 points, 3 rebounds, plus-10 in 22 minutes) combined to shoot 10 of 16 from the field for an efficient 32 points.
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As a whole, the Thunder outshot the Timberwolves from the field (50% to 34.9%), from 3 (52.4% to 29.4%) and from the line (80.8% to 71.4%). The Timberwolves turned the ball over 17 times compared to 12 giveaways for the Thunder.
The Timberwolves will need to regroup with a new game plan to avoid a 2-0 hole on the road. Game 2 is scheduled for Thursday in Oklahoma City at 8:30 p.m. ET.
