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NBA playoffs snack bar: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the thunder to win Timberwolves in game 1

NBA playoffs snack bar: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the thunder to win Timberwolves in game 1

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The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-88 at home on Wednesday evening and took a 1-0 lead against Minnesota when the fight for a place in the NBA final begins.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the thunder with 31 points and added nine assists and five rebounds.

Minnesota kept it tight in the first half, but Oklahoma City secured his first two -digit lead in the last minutes of the third quarter and remained under control until the buzzer.

Julius Randle led Minnesota with 28 points. Anthony Edwards injured his ankle late in the first quarter and spent the first minutes of the second in the changing room, but returned to the game and scored 18 points.

Thursday in Oklahoma City will play the 2 of the Western Conference final in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

Oklahoma City shows his depth

It was not a particularly pretty offensive debut for the two all-stars of the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander missed 17 of his 27 shots. Jalen Williams missed 10 of his 16th eleven from Gilgeous-Alexander 31 points were achieved from the free-wire line, and his continued ability to get there will surely be a national topic of conversation in the next 48 hours.

But the thunder won this game with her depth and defense around Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams. They played 10 rotations types that had all of their moments and played a major Minnesota bank, which ended with a collective 7 of 36 shots in the competition of the game.

Alex Caruso was one of the last to reach the ground for Oklahoma City, but again made a big impression, protected several positions and made all three of his 3. Cason Wallace played 33 minutes, protected well and spread out quietly seven templates. In the first three quarters, Isaiah Hartenstein repeated the possibilities of the floater range and made six of them before driving the fourth quarter on the bench.

Chet Holmgren was the Lone Thunder Center in the fourth quarter. The sometimes forgotten third member of this developing OKC trio was quiet in the first three quarters. But he broke out in the first five minutes of the fourth, a large part of which was on the bench with Gilgeous-Alexander: two Dunks, one corner 3 and a putback in two blocks during one of the decisive excesses of the series opening victory. – Anthony Slater, senior writer

Minnesota's offenses

The Timberwolves were worried about a flat game 1 performance, as they had the last series. The defense was great in the first half and the whole game decent. But the crime was miserable, and that prevented it from being challenging in a winnable game.

The Timberwolves shot 35 percent of the field and 29.4 percent from the 3-point area. Someone whom Randle couldn't name could not buy a bucket. And he only got five shots in the second half to end with 28 points.

Oklahoma City deserves some recognition for his swarming defense. But the wolves also missed many really good looks. Naz Reid, Donte Divincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who triggered all season over the offensive of the wolves, combined 7 for 36, including 5 for 28 from Deep.

The wolves will simply not hit the thunder if they do not redeem their open options. They made a total of 15 3s in Oklahoma City's nine in non-waste time minutes, but the Golf would and must have and must be brevet so that they can have a chance in this series.

This game would always be a difficult test for the Timberwolves, who had five days off after sending the Warriors in five games last week. Trainer Chris Finch increased the live action in the practices in front of this series to try to keep it sharp.

The wolves did everything they didn't want in game 1. You have to be so much sharper in game 2 to earn a split. – Jon Krawczynski, senior writer

Amate frustrated Timberwolves

The wolves knew that they would go into a series that they could frustrate from the official point of view. Gilgeous-Alexander is one of the most urgent players in the league and one of the biggest bad bait in the league. They said the right things to keep their serenity in front of the series, but there was a lot of misfortune in the game. Gilgeous-Alexander spent a lot of time on the floor, and at some point in the first quarter, Edwards pulled a technical foul to throw the ball on Gilgeous-Alexander while he was disgusted on the floor.

After a number of calls, Jaden McDaniels threw the arms to expose themselves in the middle of the fourth quarter. Chris Finch, assistant Micah Nori and several players insulted the crew of James Capers, Tyler Ford and Mark Lindsay for a large part of the fourth quarter when the thunder retired.

The thunder had many of its own handles. Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu there had a large part of the game in bad difficulties, and the wolves took 21 free throws according to Oklahoma City's 26.

Gilgeous-Alexander is received. It will fall to the ground. That is part of his game. As frustrating as it may be to experience the wolves and have to find a way to improve their emotions. The thunder, albeit the younger team, showed more maturity in the handling calls that did not like them. It was not the difference in the game, but it will be something that has to improve the rest of the path. – Krawczynski

Randle makes the difference – or not

For almost the entire first half, this looked like it was the Randle game. The great man of the Timberwolves had 20 points, with the Thunder Bigs (and Alex Caruso) said miserably to keep him at bay. Randle buries threesome as if he were Karl Anthony cities and drove through the lane that Nikola Jokić fought so powerfully in the previous series.

In view of the fact that Randle was widely seen as a massive X factor in this series, this was the kind of opening message that made Minnesota look like a real threat to thunder. And then … the second half passed. Randle only scored eight points in the second half and, as Krawczynski noticed, only had five shots.

It is not about playing 1 Randle's fault like this hard truth: If he is not the superior second star in this series, compared to Jalen Williams from OKC or Chet Holmgren, the Timberwolves will probably be cooked. – Sam Amick, Senior Writer

(Photo: Brett Rojo / Imagn Pictures)

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