Thunder roll past Lakers in Game 1 of West semifinals
OKLAHOMA CITY — Reigning and certain repeat MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander He scored fewer factors and dedicated extra turnovers than he had in some other sport this season in Tuesday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals.
His Oklahoma City Thunder nonetheless cruised to a 108-90 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Gilgeous-Alexander, whose document streak of 140 consecutive 20-point performances in regular-season video games stays energetic, completed with 18 factors on 8-of-15 capturing. It was his lowest-scoring outing since a lopsided Game 3 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in final season’s West finals. The seven turnovers he dedicated have been two greater than he had in any sport this season and the second most in his playoff profession, trailing solely the eight he had in a Game 6 loss to the Indiana Pacers in final yr’s NBA Finals.
“This ain’t Shai versus the Lakers; it’s Lakers versus the Thunder,” stated Los Angeles star LeBron Jameswho led all scorers with 27 factors on 12-of-17 capturing. “We’re down 1-0. That’s the main thing. Keep the main thing the main thing, and that’s who win or lose. That’s all it’s about.”
Asked to evaluate his particular person efficiency, Gilgeous-Alexander stated, “I was OK. It wasn’t my best. It wasn’t my worst.”
The Thunder did not want a peak efficiency from Gilgeous-Alexander on an evening when energy ahead Chet Holmgren delivered 24 factors, 12 rebounds and three blocks and Oklahoma City held Los Angeles to 37 factors in the second half whereas famous person Luka Doncic (strained hamstring) sat on the bench in road garments.
“I thought collectively we could have been better,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault stated. “It obviously wasn’t clean. It was a little clunky. … You can’t be greedy with a playoff win that was not a perfect game. There’s a lot of playoff games that are not perfect. The other team’s trying their best to squeeze you and make you very uncomfortable. And so we won an imperfect game tonight, and that’s a good thing.”
Gilgeous-Alexander and Daigneault each referenced the eight-day layoff between Oklahoma City’s first-round sweep finale in opposition to the Phoenix Suns and the collection opener in opposition to the Lakers as a possible issue in the Thunder’s sloppy offense.
Oklahoma City shot the ball effectively (49.4% from the sphere, 43.3% from 3). But the Thunder, who have been tied for the fewest turnovers in the NBA with 11.8 per sport in the common season, dedicated 16 in opposition to the Lakers.
“I was loose with the ball, had a lot of turnovers,” stated Gilgeous-Alexander, who tried solely three free throws, a 3rd of his norm. “I think that comes to the rust and not playing for a little bit. They’re obviously very aggressive, but I feel like for most of the night we got great looks.”
Holmgren emphasised that some of Gilgeous-Alexander’s turnovers have been the fault of his teammates.
“I think I made the right decision all night long,” Holmgren stated. (*1*)
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.
