The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 114-88 in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points, including 20 in the second half.
“I didn’t particularly change my mindset, honestly,” he said after struggling in the first half. “I just tried to continue to be aggressive, trust my work.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, who shot 2-of-13 in the first half, went 8-of-14 from the field in the second half.
The Thunder were down 48-44 at halftime.
“For us to play as poorly as we did offensively in the first half and be down four was a major victory for us at halftime,” said Mark Daigneault.
The Thunder would go on a 10-0 run in the third quarter and outscore the Wolves 32-18 in the period.
Anthony Edwards said after the game that he needed to be more aggressive. Edwards had 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
“I definitely got to shoot more. I took 13 f—ing shots, but I’ll say probably just get off the ball a little more,” Edwards said. “Play without the ball. I think that would be the answer, because playing on the ball, they’re just going to double and sit in the gaps all day. So I’ve got to go watch some film and take it apart and figure it out.”
Game 2 takes place on Thursday.
