OKC's D lives up to 'identity' in dominant Game 1

OKLAHOMA CITY -- After spending the previous seven games searching for solutions against the Denver Nuggets' variety of zone defenses, the Oklahoma City Thunder didn't make a smooth transition against the Minnesota Timberwolves' physical man-to-man schemes in the Western Conference finals opener.

But no team in the NBA presents more defensive problems than the top-seeded Thunder, a trend that continued in Tuesday's Game 1, allowing Oklahoma City to overcome a hideous offensive first half.

The Thunder, fueled by converting the Timberwolves' 19 turnovers into 31 points, pulled away for a 114-88 win.

"We try to play to our identity," said Oklahoma City superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 31 points despite going 2 of 13 from the floor in the first half. "We did a good job of that on defense. Our defense definitely gave us life early in the game and kept us in it."

Oklahoma City trailed by only four points at halftime despite scoring only 44 points, 18 of which were off of turnovers.

"I just thought it took us a second to calibrate to the opponent, but our defense allowed us the margin to do that," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said.

Oklahoma City's shotmaking tends to ebb and slow, particularly during the postseason, but the Thunder have consistently been the NBA's most dominant defensive team. Oklahoma City had the league's top-rated defense during the regular season by a significant margin -- allowing 106.6 points per 100 possessions, 2.5 fewer than any other team -- and has cranked that up to another level in the playoffs.

The Thunder have allowed only 100.7 points per 100 possessions in 12 playoff games. The Timberwolves have the second-stingiest defense this postseason, allowing 107.8 points per 100 possessions.

But Oklahoma City's defense doesn't just get stops. It's one of the Thunder's best ways to generate offense, too.

The Thunder are averaging 25.3 points off of turnovers during the playoffs, the most by any team in a postseason during the play-by-play era that began in 1997, according to ESPN Research. Oklahoma City, which had 37 points off of turnovers in its Game 7 rout of the Nuggets, joined the 2017 Golden State Warriors as the only teams in the past 25 years to convert turnovers into at least 30 points in consecutive playoff games.

"We just got a phenomenal defensive team," Thunder reserve Alex Caruso said. "It's a collection of great individual defenders that also play great team defense. And then once we get on the break, young legs, all those dudes are running [and] dunking."

Oklahoma City is forcing an NBA-high 18.3 turnovers per game in the playoffs, an increase from the league-leading 17.0 it forced during the regular season.

"The turnovers are never what we talk about," Daigneault said. "We talk crowding around the ball. We talk about being aggressive in our help, trusting our help, trusting our scheme, trusting our teammates. And that tends to yield turnovers when you really have that going. But it also yields tough shots, out-of-rhythm shots. So that's what we're trying to do. But the guys did a great job of drumming that up really from the jump."

After shooting only 37.5% from the floor in the first half, Oklahoma City found its groove offensively. The Thunder scored 70 points on 61.9% shooting in the second half.

Oklahoma City took command in the third quarter, when Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams outscored the Timberwolves by themselves. The Thunder's All-Star duo combined to shoot only 4 of 21 from the floor in the first half, but Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams combined for 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting in the third quarter, which ended with Oklahoma City leading by double digits.

Aside from power forward Julius Randle, who scored 20 of his 28 points in the first half, the Timberwolves never established any sort of offensive rhythm.

The Thunder held the Timberwolves to 34.9% shooting from the floor, including 15 of 51 (29.4%) from 3-point range. Minnesota scored only 20 points in the paint, the franchise's fewest in a playoff game since Game 1 of the 2004 West finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

"There's two sides to the basketball game," Thunder power forward/center Chet Holmgren said. "If you want to play only one side, you got to play really good and you don't want to count on that, especially in the playoffs. Especially against a good team and good players like they have on the other side. You've really got to try to give yourself a chance at both ends, and if things aren't going well on one end, you've really got to hunker down on the other."