The Oklahoma City Thunder turned the Minnesota Timberwolves‘ 19 turnovers into a whopping 31 points during Tuesday night’s Western Conference Finals opener, cruising to a dominant 114-88 win in Game 1.
This wasn’t just any defensive performance. The Thunder have now joined elite company – they’re only the second team in 25 years to score 30+ points off turnovers in back-to-back playoff games. The 2017 Golden State Warriors were the only other team to pull this off.
It continues a trend for OKC. They had already racked up 37 points from turnovers in their Game 7 blowout against Denver.
They’re forcing an incredible 18.3 turnovers per game this postseason – the highest in the NBA.
The Thunder’s home dominance has been nothing short of historic. They’ve outscored opponents by 176 points across their seven home playoff games, setting a new NBA postseason record.
What makes this win even more impressive? The Thunder’s offense was ice cold early on.
OKC shot a miserable 37.5% in the first half. Their stars struggled badly – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams combined to hit just 4 of 21 shots before halftime.
But their defense kept them in it. Despite scoring only 44 first-half points, they trailed by just four at the break. Eighteen of those points came directly from Minnesota’s mistakes.
“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 explained. “For us to play as poorly as we did offensively in the first half and be down four was a major victory for us at halftime.”
The Thunder have turned defense into offense better than any playoff team in recent memory. They’re averaging 25.3 points off turnovers this postseason – the highest mark by any team since detailed play-by-play tracking began in 1997.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s been paying attention. OKC had the NBA’s best defense during the regular season, allowing just 106.6 points per 100 possessions – a full 2.5 points better than any other team.
And they’ve gotten even stingier in the playoffs.
Through 12 playoff games, they’re allowing just 100.7 points per 100 possessions. For context, the Timberwolves rank second this postseason at 107.8 – and they just got dismantled.
The game turned in the third quarter. OKC went on a quick 10-0 run to take a 66-60 lead, then outscored Minnesota 32-18 in the period.
Gilgeous-Alexander found his rhythm after halftime, pouring in 20 of his 31 points in the second half. Williams added 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 steals.
The Thunder’s defense was suffocating inside. Minnesota scored just 20 points in the paint – their lowest playoff total since 2004, when they faced the Los Angeles Lakers in that year’s Western Conference Finals.
Game 2 is set for Thursday in Oklahoma City, where the Thunder will look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.
