Oklahoma City Thunder fans were more than satisfied with how Game 1 of the 2025 Western Conference Finals played out. Neutral observers did not seem to feel the same way.
The Thunder dominated the Timberwolves in a 114-88 contest in front of a raucous crowd inside Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. After trailing by four at halftime, OKC outscored Minnesota 70-40 in the second half to turn a close game into an old-fashioned blowout.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way for the Thunder with 31 points. While the MVP favorite did make some tough shots throughout the contest, several fans were upset over the relatively friendly whistle SGA benefited from.
The Thunder star drew a game-high 14 free throws in the contest. Some of them looked questionable to say the least, leading many fans to call out the officiating in Game 1.
This is so stupid lol. SGA created the contact then started stumbling to make it look like he got fouled.
— Dominique Clare (@DomClare) May 21, 2025
NBA needs to stop rewarding players for this garbage style of play. It’s trash. pic.twitter.com/YLpatnNPD6
SGA just tripped over nothing and they called a foul… generational whistle pic.twitter.com/5U6gDASIpu
— Chaz (@ChazNBA) May 21, 2025
I don’t care who wins this game. The touch foul calls SGA gets are really awful. They don’t resemble anything else that’s happening in the playoffs.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) May 21, 2025
Hell of a shot, but another ludicrous whistle for SGA. pic.twitter.com/EkUPGK7PXM
— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT) May 21, 2025
Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA in drives per game (20.6) during the regular season by a wide margin. It’s a big reason why he draws so many free throws. But even the most ardent Thunder fans have to admit that SGA does tend to embellish contact in a way that sometimes looks unnatural to the casual observer.
There’s a reason announcer Doris Burke called Shai a “free throw merchant” five minutes into Tuesday’s game. Even Anthony Edwards seemed frustrated about the whistles SGA got early in the contest.
To the OKC’s credit, the team would have still won Game 1 by 15 points if you took away every single one of Gilgeous-Alexander’s free throw makes. But the All-Star’s penchant for getting to the free throw line definitely helped their cause to go up 1-0 in the series.
