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Anthony Edward going up against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the headline matchup everyone has been anticipating heading into the Western Conference Finals. These are two of the best young stars the NBA has to offer, and one of them will be advancing to their first NBA Finals with a chance to win a championship.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have the early edge over Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves after picking up a 114-88 win in Game 1 on Tuesday night. Although the Timberwolves held the first-half advantage over their opposition, Gilgeous-Alexander's squad responded in a big way over the last 24 minutes of play.
The Thunder outscored Minnesota 70-40 in the second half, claiming an early 1-0 series lead behind a 26-point victory. The story from this game, aside from SGA's 31 points and ability to get to the free-throw line, was Edwards' struggles. Even though he rolled his ankle in the first half and went to the locker room momentarily, the Timberwolves star had a quiet night with just 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
Between not being able to find his groove offensively and being frustrated with the whistle Gilgeous-Alexander was getting, resulting in a technical foul for tossing the ball at the Thunder guard, this was not a good performance from Edwards. However, Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder aren't prepared to overlook the 23-year-old superstar, as they understand he will be coming back with vengeance in Game 2.
“I’m not too sure. Good player though,” Shai told reporters in response to being asked about Edwards' quiet night, via ClutchPoints' Josue Pavon. “He’ll play better than he played tonight. It’s a long series. We just gotta be ready for whatever.”
Overall, the Timberwolves struggled on offense throughout Game 1. While they did get off to a fast start with a quick 8-0 run and despite Julius Randle's 20-point first-half performance with four 3-point shots, Minnesota looked out of sync all night.
Edwards scored just 18 points, his second-lowest scoring game of these playoffs, and the Timberwolves bench unit couldn't find their shot. Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker combined to shoot 5-of-28 from 3-point range, leading to the team shooting below 30 percent from the perimeter.
After holding the Thunder below 40 percent shooting from the floor in the first half, Minnesota allowed their opponents to feed off the energy from their home crowd and score 70 second-half points on over 60 percent shooting in the second half.
Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder handled their business in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals and sent a clear message to the Timberwolves. But if they know anything about the rest of this series, it's that Edwards will find his scoring touch and have extra motivation to even things up heading into Game 2.
That is why Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder are staying prepared and not overlooking Anthony Edwards' poor scoring night. The second game between the Timberwolves and Thunder will be played on Thursday night in Oklahoma City.
