In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, there are two things that gave the Thunder confidence. The first is naturally the victory, and the second is that they did not win perfectly. The Thunder started slowly, but only trailed by 4 points at halftime; MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's efficiency was far below normal. But when the decisive moment came and the fruits of victory were within reach, the Thunder gave all the answers, while the Timberwolves had no solution. So the first game of the series was taken by the top seed, and the Thunder won a big victory with a score of 114-88. After easily defeating the Nuggets in the seventh game two days ago, they once again staged a crushing drama. Although the Timberwolves were the more rested side, they became the worse team today. When the situation gradually got out of control, they failed to regroup and failed to adjust in time. With two minutes left, the Timberwolves chose to give up early, withdraw all their main players, and turn their attention to Game 2 the day after tomorrow, hoping to steal a game in Oklahoma City before returning to Minnesota. The following are the five key points that helped the Thunder take the lead in the Western Conference Finals:

1. Four-word mantra: OKCD (Thunder defense)

This team, which ranked first in the league's regular season defensive efficiency, has been locking down its opponents all season. Until they met their opponents in this round, the Thunder's defense was unbeatable - and the Timberwolves proved that they could match them. In the first half, the Timberwolves suppressed the Thunder to only 44 points, which was a challenge.

The Thunder took action to meet the challenge: in the second half, they only let the Timberwolves score 40 points.

"Defense gave us life," Alexander said after the game.

The turning point of this game was the Thunder's restriction on the Timberwolves. In fact, it was thanks to the solid defense that the Thunder was able to maintain the score difference between the two sides at 4 points at the end of the half. Head coach Mark Daignolt admitted: "This is crucial. We lost the round but we were not knocked down."

When the Thunder fixed the offensive loopholes, the balance of the game completely tilted, and the Timberwolves could only watch the defeat. Once the Thunder took the lead, the advantage never changed.

Jaylen Williams' 5 steals were particularly eye-catching. The Timberwolves made 19 turnovers in the game, and the Thunder took advantage of the turnovers to score 31 points. In addition, except for Julius Randle's 20-point explosion in the first half, no one could continue to threaten the Thunder's defense. This means...

2. Huazi was silent, and the Wolves urgently needed a savior

Anthony Edwards was not the culprit for the Wolves' loss, but the problem was that he failed to become a hero to save the team. When the Timberwolves needed a superstar to step up, the player who claimed to be the "candidate for the face of the league" handed in an answer sheet of 18 points (0 points in the final quarter). Such a performance is obviously not enough to fight against the Thunder who had just eliminated Nikola Jokic.

The Wolves can’t rely on Randle alone to carry the scoring load, especially against the mighty Thunder. When opponents see through the weaknesses of this playmaking power forward who likes to drive with the ball, Randle’s power is instantly reduced. So where is the Huazi who claims to dominate the league? Maybe the ankle sprain at the end of the first quarter dragged him down, but his silence throughout the game (especially by his standards) was still surprising.

“Looks like I have to increase my shots,” he complained after the game. “I only took 13 shots today.”

3. Thunder Twin Towers Crushed the Penalty

Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren had just passed the test of Jokic in the second round, and the offensive threat of Rudy Gobert in this round dropped sharply. The French center stumbled even when he was on the ball, let alone attacking independently, so the Thunder turned their focus to limiting his rebounding and defensive deterrence.

As a result, the interior confrontation was once again one-sided. Hartenstein used a floater to tease Gobert, while Holmgren bombed the basket by cutting back. The duo scored a total of 27 points and 12 rebounds, while Gobert only scored 2 points and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes, with a bleak plus-minus value, and was even completely left alone by the Thunder.

"This (the twin towers) is our important weapon," said coach Daignolt.

In this situation, the Timberwolves must make a choice: to stick to Gobert's defensive value or to increase Naz Reid's offensive weight?

4. Alexander's free throw art

Edwards's temper in the first quarter was very symbolic - when the referee whistled a foul on Alexander, he smashed the ball directly to the feet of the Thunder guard lying on the ground and received a technical foul for this. This "team foul" exposed the Timberwolves' extreme dissatisfaction with Alexander's offensive method: the guard can always use his forearms to create space to create physical contact (even the slightest) and win the whistle. 14 free throws in the first half (13 made) saved his poor performance of 2 of 13 shots.

But the real cost of the free throws was reflected in Jaden McDaniels, the Timberwolves' best perimeter defender, who had four fouls just 4 minutes into the third quarter and was forced to sit on the bench (he played only 24 minutes in the whole game). Alexander used wisdom to make the biggest threat on the offensive end leave the game early, which made the Timberwolves' mentality unbalanced.

"We discussed this issue before the series," Coach Finch said after the game, "There are too many unnecessary emotions on the court. We must learn to turn the page quickly."

5. The Timberwolves' substitutes collectively lost

In this game, Reed, the Timberwolves' most trusted player on the bench, disappeared along with other players on the bench. Reed, Dante DiVincenzo and Nickeil Alexander-Walker only made 7 of 36 shots in the running game. They got a lot of open opportunities but missed frequently. Every missed shot was like a heavy punch, hitting the chest of the Timberwolves who were trying to bite the score.

Di Vincenzo's long-range shooting problem is particularly fatal (his three-point shooting percentage in the playoffs is only 25%), while Reed, who has always been known for his ability to adjust, can still give people hope, but the former has fallen into a continuous slump. When the Wolves tried to use Walker, they found that he also joined the army of irons. In this deep duel, the Thunder easily won with the help of Kenrich Williams (who scored 8 points in 10 minutes in the third quarter). This forward who was almost abandoned throughout the playoffs unexpectedly became an unexpected surprise for the Thunder in this game.

"We obviously lacked patience today," Coach Finch concluded after the game. "The hasty offense affected the defense, and even if we got a good opportunity, we couldn't grasp it. We must improve the quality of decision-making and make adjustments as soon as possible."

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