A confident Minnesota looked in the mood for an upset against the top seeds after leading for most of the first two quarters to take a 48-44 lead into half-time.
Timberwolves power forward Julius Randle poured in 20 first-half points to rock the Thunder, who struggled to find their shooting touch in front of an expectant home crowd.
Oklahoma City came roaring back in the third quarter, outscoring Minnesota 32-18 to open up what turned out to be a decisive 76-66 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who had a lethargic first half with 11 points after shooting just 2-of-13 from the field, led the Thunder recovery.
The Canadian point guard, who is vying for the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award, rattled in 12 points in the third quarter while Jalen Williams added nine points to keep Minnesota pinned back.
Crucially, Oklahoma City’s defense also stepped up to shut down Randle’s scoring rate while Minnesota star Anthony Edwards was kept scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 31 points, five rebounds and nine assists while Williams added 19 points with eight rebounds, five assists and five steals. Chet Holmgren added 15 points with Isaiah Hartenstein grabbing 12 points.
“Honestly we were a bit rusty in the first half but we shouldn’t be,” Gilgeous-Alexander told ESPN in an on-court interview.
“We were missing layups, free throws. We just needed to keep being aggressive and trust our work,” he added. “We got downhill, the layups started to fall and we started making our shots and we started getting stops defensively.”
Gilgeous-Alexander acknowledged the best-of-seven series is only just getting under way though.
“Game ones are feel-out games. In game two they’re going to make adjustments and we’re gonna have adjustments. It’s a series and it’s best-of-seven, not first to one,” he said. “It’s a good start but there’s a lot more work to do.”
Randle led Minnesota’s scoring with 28 points while Edwards, who suffered an injury scare after rolling an ankle, finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
“We didn’t have a lot of patience in the second half and then our offense didn’t get a bunch of quality looks and it affected our defense,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said.
“And then when we did get good looks, they didn’t go down. Our offense affected our defense, and that can’t happen,” he added. “When we got good looks, we couldn’t really connect when the game was kind of turning against us.”
Game two of the series takes place in Oklahoma City on Thursday. (AFP)
