Shai Gilgeous-Alexander notched 31 points as Oklahoma City Thunder overran Minnesota Timberwolves 114-88 in the Western Conference Finals to go 1-0 up on a Saturday night. The game was played on Tuesday.
Minnesota was in control right from the start and had a 48-44 lead by the break through Julius Randle’s 20-point outstanding first two quarters. On the other hand, The Thunder were missing their creative force leading to the poor shooting of Gilgeous-Alexander who was 2-of-13 in the first half.
However, the Canadian point guard exploded in the third quarter dropping twelve points while his team was outscoring 32-18 to shatter the Timberwolves.
Jalen Williams registered 19 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, while Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein scored 15 and 12 points respectively. In the second half, the defense of the OKC team was greatly improved, as no Randle and Edwards barely scored. As regards Edwards, he had an ankle injury that was why he finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds.
The Timberwolves coach, Chris Finch attributed the second-half fall to the team’s poor execution of attack. “We weren’t very patient. When our attack went wrong, our defense suffered too,” he said.
Gilgeous-Alexander made it clear that the series was still wide open: “Game 1 is a kind of testing game. There’s still much work to be done.”
The second match will take place on Thursday in Oklahoma City.
