Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled in Game 1 at home against the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
The MVP candidate scored 15 points but shot 4-of-13 from the field and committed two turnovers in 23 minutes. Still, that didn’t affect the game’s outcome.
The Thunder demolished the Grizzlies 131-80. Citing OptaAnalyst, The Athletic shared that Oklahoma City’s victory was the fifth largest in NBA playoff history.
The win may prove that the Thunder have something that many championship-winning teams have: depth.
Against Memphis, the Thunder had five players besides Gilgeous-Alexander finish with double-digit points, including guard Aaron Wiggins, who scored a game-high 21 points. Oklahoma City also shot 50.5 percent from the field.
Memphis, meanwhile, didn’t look as deep as Oklahoma City. Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant scored 17 points but shot 6-of-17 from the field. With Morant sputtering, Memphis’s offense stalled, and it shot 34.4 percent from the field.
Morant insisted the Grizzlies will rebound in Game 2 in Oklahoma City at 7:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
“We’ll never play that bad again,” he said in a postgame news conference, per Bleacher Report.
Still, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Grizzlies’ series against the Thunder is a short one. Along with a better roster, Oklahoma City likely has a coaching edge.
On Sunday, Memphis was playing its first playoff game under interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo. He coached just nine regular-season games before the play-in tournament.
Oklahoma City had a 68-14 regular-season record, the best in the NBA. While it’s only one game, the Thunder looked every bit of a championship favorite in Sunday’s blowout against Memphis.
