Two down and two to go.
Twenty-four hours after capturing and being crowned NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed why he earned the award, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a convincing 118-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to open up a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander was presented with the Michael Jordan Trophy by Commissioner Adam Silver in an emotional ceremony prior to the Game 2 tip off on Thursday, before putting up 38 points on 12-21 from the field, tying his career playoff high, eight assists and three steals to put the Thunder in the driver’s seat in this series.
The 26-year-old has now scored at least 30 points in five straight playoff games and nine overall this season.
“It felt really good,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of putting in that performance after receiving the award. “I feel like my emotions were so high that I was a little bit tired out there, especially at the start. I was a little too juiced up.
“A special moment. I’m happy we won so I can really enjoy the last couple of days and soak it all up. That really helps. Shout out to the team. We played well again tonight and head to Minnesota up 2-0.”
“Early, I just wanted to lean on my teammates,” he added. “I thought about coming out and forcing the first couple of shots, but I was like: ‘Nah, that’s probably not the way to go. I wanted to just let the game come to me, lean on my teammates, play through them, play off them.”
Embed from Getty ImagesThursday’s victory once again displayed the depth the Thunder has in their arsenal behind Gilgeous-Alexander, with Jalen Williams continuing his hot streak and his fast track to stardom with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Chet Holmgren had one of his best games of this postseason, adding 22 points and four rebounds.
The game was relatively close until the Thunder, as they did in Game 1 on Tuesday, used a third-quarter onslaught to blow the Timberwolves out of the water. This time it was a 14-2 spurt that was the difference and helped Oklahoma City take complete control, eventually extending the lead to as much as 24.
The Timberwolves fought back and closed the gap to 10 in the final frame, but the Thunder never gave them confidence and kept them at arm’s length.
Anthony Edwards more than doubled his shot attempts for the Timberwolves after saying he needed to shoot more following Game 1, posting 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists. However, he was still 1-9 from beyond the arc.
Jaden McDaniels added 22 points for the Timberwolves, while Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Gilgeous-Alexander’s cousin, had 17 points off the bench.
Julius Randle, who was quickly earning the ‘Playoff Julius’ moniker, had his first poor performance of the postseason, scoring just six points on 2-of-11 shooting and did not play in the fourth quarter.
“I thought again we didn’t close the half very well,” Minnesota head coach Chris Finch said. “I thought if we close the half better, then we don’t put ourselves on such a razor’s edge in the third.
“We only had six turnovers at halftime. We had a few more in the third quarter, missed some shots, didn’t finish at the basket and that led to a bunch of stuff, an early attack mode for them.
“Every minute in this series is a chance to find something,” Finch added. “So, we’re going to go back home as a good team at home, so we’re going to fight for Game 3. Heads up, look at the tape and get ready for Game 3.”
Game 3 is on Saturday in Minnesota, where the Timberwolves have lost just one of their last 10 games and are 4-1 this postseason.
