The opening game of the Western Conference finals was about far more than the superstars on the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves rosters.
The Thunder played lockdown defense throughout the second half and turned plenty of turnovers into points on the other end. And the Timberwolves struggled from the perimeter and couldn’t get Julius Randle going in the second half after a monster first half.
But Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards are still at the front and center of the series and will go a long way toward determining how the series will go from here.
The Thunder and Timberwolves square off in Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Thursday in Oklahoma City with the Thunder up 1-0.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who was named NBA Most Valuable Player for the first time on Wednesday night, scored 31 points – 20 in the second half – of Oklahoma City’s 114-88 victory.
Gilgeous-Alexander is the third Thunder MVP winner. The others are Kevin Durant (2013-14 season) and Russell Westbrook (2016-17).
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault used a 10-man rotation in Game 1, expanding from the rotations he used in the second-round series against Denver.
“Most of the guys on our team could do more, including Shai. As much as he does, he could do more,” Daigneault said. “He plays in such a way that allows other guys to breathe, and allows the other guys to go. … There’s no one on the team that’s not parking some part of their own ceiling, as individual players in a vacuum, for the good of the team.”
After playing 20 combined minutes over two games in the series against Denver – all late on blowout Oklahoma City wins – Kenrich Williams played 10 minutes in Tuesday’s series opener.
Williams hit a couple key buckets and made a couple key defensive plays.
“Unbelievable consistency, professionalism, mental toughness, all that stuff,” Daigneault said. “I truly believe that it breathes life into the team.
“He just puts his head down every day and keeps himself ready and to go in and deliver like that was a huge energy boost for us.”
Edwards scored 18 points in the series opener, going just 5-of-13 from the field.
In 38 career playoff games, Edwards has attempted fewer shots just one time.
“I definitely got to shoot more,” Edwards said. “… Just got off the ball a little more, play without the ball. I think that will be the answer. Because playing on the ball, they’re just going to double and sit in the gaps all day. … We’ll figure it out.”
The Timberwolves lost their first game in the second round to Golden State before bouncing back to win four consecutive games to close out that series.
“We definitely need to find a rhythm in this series,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. “Every series is a little bit different in how people guard you and whatnot. I thought we came out and tried to play the same way we always did, and that wasn’t going to work. … We’ve got to figure out a different rhythm to play.”
