OKLAHOMA CITY: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overcame a slow start to score 31 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 114-88 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday.
It was Gilgeous-Alexander’s fourth consecutive game with 30 or more points and his eighth in 12 playoff games this season. He added a game-high nine assists.
With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, Gilgeous-Alexander drove toward the basket and began falling, flipping the ball toward the bucket as he went down.
The ball rolled around the rim briefly before dropping through, and Jaden McDaniels was called for the foul.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished off the three-point play to put the Thunder up by 14. He finished 10 of 27 from the floor and 0 of 4 from 3-point range, but he made 11 of 14 from the free-throw line.
Early on, the Timberwolves’ defense gave Gilgeous-Alexander fits, holding him to just 2-of-13 shooting in the first half.
Oklahoma City trailed by nine with a little more than a minute remaining in the first half before the Thunder closed on a 6-1 run to cut the deficit to four.
In the second half, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault moved Gilgeous-Alexander off the ball, and it helped the likely Most Valuable Player find a rhythm.
Gilgeous-Alexander scored 12 points in the third quarter as Oklahoma City outscored Minnesota 32-18.
While Gilgeous-Alexander turned up the pressure on offense, it was the Thunder’s defense that played the biggest role in the victory.
Overall, Oklahoma City scored 31 points on 19 Timberwolves’ turnovers. Minnesota managed only 10 points off the Thunder’s 15 giveaways.
Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams produced 19 points and eight rebounds, while Chet Holmgren added 15 points and seven boards.
The Thunder shot 50 percent from the field and 11 of 21 (52.4 percent) from beyond the arc while holding Minnesota to just 34.9 percent from the floor and 15 of 51 (29.4 percent) from 3-point range.
Julius Randle led Minnesota with 28 points, scoring 20 in the first half. After going 5-for-6 in the first half on 3-point tries, Randle didn’t attempt a shot from beyond the arc in the second half.
Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards wound up with 18 points and nine rebounds. He attempted just one shot, a miss, while playing seven minutes in the fourth quarter.
