Chet Holmgren’s dominant double-double and Jared McCain’s fourth-quarter explosion helped Oklahoma City overcome a sluggish start to stay perfect this postseason with a commanding home victory.
Game 1 of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s second-round series took place on Tuesday night, and the Thunder advanced to 5-0 on this playoff run with a Game 1 victory in OKC, right on the heels of a 4-0 sweep over the Phoenix Suns in Round 1.
With all the days off between the end of that opening series and the start of this one, Oklahoma City came out rusty in Game 1 against the Lakers. In fact, L.A. was the team that came out hot with a 7-0 run that required the Thunder to claw back, and ultimately, the entire first half was fairly back and forth.
Into the third quarter, the Thunder was able to pull away late for a double-digit lead going into the final frame. And while Oklahoma City felt like it was in control in the third quarter, there was still a sense that the Lakers had some bright moments and seemingly stayed within striking distance.
It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Thunder really pulled away, and that was primarily driven by Jared McCain. He came out hot to start the fourth quarter, knocked down three triples in the first few minutes of the frame and that was what put the nail in the coffin for the Thunder, ultimately pulling out a 108-90 victory and moving to 1-0 in this series.
Chet Holmgren was arguably the best player in this game for the Thunder. He led the team with 24 points to go along with 12 rebounds, giving Oklahoma City a major interior presence on both ends of the floor.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was not his best. He finished with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting, so he was still over 50% from the floor, but overall, he just wasn’t hitting at the rate he normally does. He wasn’t always able to get to his spots due to the pressure and double teams Los Angeles was throwing at him, and he had some careless turnovers that were uncharacteristic for him. But overall, it was a good enough night.
Ajay Mitchell also had 18 points, though he was only 7-of-16 from the floor. And lastly, McCain was the fifth player in double figures for the Thunder with 12 points. He knocked down four triples in this game and was a huge spark plug for OKC in what was the best playoff game of his career.
Game 2 is set to take place in Oklahoma City at Paycom Center on Thursday night before the series shifts back to Los Angeles for Games 3 and 4.