May 21 (UPI) -- Oklahoma City Thunder defenders piled into the paint, disrupting Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves offense in a blowout victory to open the Western Conference finals.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his game-high 31 points in the second half of the 114-88 win Tuesday in Oklahoma City. The Thunder held Edwards to 18 points, including five in the second half and zero in the fourth quarter.
"Really good players, you've got to make them uncomfortable," Gilgeous-Alexander said on the ESPN broadcast. "You've got to try to get in their airspace and try to take away their strengths."
The Thunder outshot the Timberwolves 50% to 34.9%, including a 52.4% to 29.4% edge from 3-point range. They held advantages of 54-20 in points in the paint, 12-0 in fast break points, 32-26 in bench points and 31-10 in points off turnovers.
Edwards and the Timberwolves scored the first eight points of the night and didn't trail until the second half, when they were outshot 61.9% to 35%. Game 1 featured nine lead changes and was tied six times.
