OKLAHOMA CITY — Butterflies fluttered in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s stomach as his teammates and the fans who packed the Paycom Center roared while he raised the MVP trophy above his head minutes before the opening tip of Thursday’s Game 2.
“I was a little bit too juiced up,” Gilgeous-Alexander said of the emotions flowing through him at the moment.
Gilgeous-Alexander settled down soon enough, coming through with a performance that displayed why he was worthy of the NBA’s highest individual honor, leading the Thunder to a 118-103 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves that gave the top seed a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander picked apart the Minnesota defense for 38 points — matching his playoff career high — on 12-of-21 shooting. He also had eight assists and contributed to Oklahoma City’s defensive chaos with three steals.
“It keeps the team at ease that he’s able to flip the page as quick as he is,” said Thunder forward Jalen Williams, who had 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists. “It kind of gets us in the same mode.”
Gilgeous-Alexander kidded that he got caught up in the moment and considered forcing the first few shots of the game.
“I was like, ‘Nah, that’s probably not the way to go,'” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who attempted only three shots in the first quarter, making all of them. “I wanted to just let the game come to me. Lean on my teammates, play through them, play off of them. I just didn’t want to force the issue. Let the game come to me.”
Gilgeous-Alexander was ready when the opportunity to take over the game arrived. He scored eight points in the final 3:18 of the first half — including a step-back 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final 16 seconds — as the Thunder stretched their lead from two to six points.
Then Gilgeous-Alexander’s fingerprints were all over Oklahoma City’s domination in the third quarter, when the Thunder outscored the Timberwolves 35-21 to take command of the game. He had 11 points and two assists in the quarter, including seven points during the Thunder’s 17-2 run.
“I’m happy we won so I can really enjoy the last couple of days, soak it all up,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “That really helps.”
It was another midrange masterpiece for Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s scoring champion this season. Nine of his 12 buckets were 2-pointers outside the restricted area.
Williams also found a comfort zone in the midrange. He was 12-of-20 from the floor, including 6-of-9 on 2s outside the restricted area.
“Shai is one of the best in the world to get to his spot and rise up,” Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley said. “Our bigs have got to be up. Our guards have to be ready to switch stuff to where you take away the middie. It’s no longer one of those we’ll settle for a midrange shot type series. You can’t give that up to these guys. These guys make that shot.”
Gilgeous-Alexander got off to a slow start in the series, going 2-of-13 from the floor in the first half of Game 1. He has scorched the Timberwolves since then.
In the past six quarters, Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 58 points on 20-of-35 shooting.
“He’s just got an unbelievable ability to not be in a groove and get himself there almost instantaneously,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “You never feel like the next play is going to be a continuation of a lack of rhythm or a couple of misses. You always feel like he’s always getting himself going for the next possession. So just great mental toughness, great consistency.”
