OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder began their title defense with a 119-84 rout of the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Sunday.
The reigning league MVP made just 5 of 18 field goals but went 15 of 17 at the foul line before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Jalen Williams scored 22 points and Chet Holmgren added 16 for the top-seeded Thunder, who will host Game 2 on Wednesday.
Devin Booker scored 23 points and Dillon Brooks scored 18 on 6-of-22 shooting for the Suns, who shot 34.9% from the field. Jalen Green, who scored 35 and 36 points in Phoenix’s two play-in games, had 17 on 6-for-16 shooting.
It was the third straight year that the Thunder earned the top seed and had to wait through the play-in tournament to learn their first-round opponent. Two seasons ago, Oklahoma City beat New Orleans 94-92 in Game 1. Last year, the Thunder routed Memphis 131-80 in Game 1 on their way to the title.
Phoenix claimed the No. 8 seed by defeating the Golden State Warriors on Friday night. The Suns took an early 5-0 lead Sunday as the Thunder started cold following a week off.
The Thunder heated up quickly. Brooks was called for a flagrant-one foul in the first quarter for hitting Holmgren in the face. The Thunder went on a 12-2 surge after that to take a 24-14 lead.
In the closing seconds of the quarter, Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams threw a pass about three-quarters of the length of the court. Holmgren caught it with his back to the basket, took one dribble to his right, then turned and drained a 3-pointer as time expired to put Oklahoma City up 35-20.
Oklahoma City extended the advantage to 65-44 at halftime. Holmgren had 16 points and Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 at the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander converted a three-point play to push Oklahoma City’s lead to 90-63 late in the third quarter, and the Thunder took a 97-66 edge into the fourth.
Nine Oklahoma City players saw at least 13 minutes of action.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
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| TOP SCORERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  |
D. Booker SG | 23PTS | 6REB | 2AST | |
  |
S. Gilgeous-Alexander SG | 25PTS | 4REB | 7AST | |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| D. Booker | 23 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| D. Brooks | 18 | 7 | 2 | 4 |
| J. Green | 17 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Goodwin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| O. Ighodaro | 0 | 9 | 3 | 3 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| R. Fleming | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Gillespie | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| R. O’Neale | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| J. Bouyea | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| A. Coffey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Dunn | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| K. Maluach | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| H. Highsmith | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| I. Livers | – | – | – | – |
| K. Brea | – | – | – | – |
| C. Huntley | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 84 | 45 | 16 | 19 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| S. Gilgeous-Alexander | 25 | 4 | 7 | 2 |
| J. Williams | 22 | 7 | 6 | 1 |
| C. Holmgren | 16 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Hartenstein | 8 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| L. Dort | 8 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| A. Mitchell | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 |
| I. Joe | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| C. Wallace | 6 | 4 | 2 | 4 |
| J. McCain | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| J. Williams | 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| K. Williams | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| A. Caruso | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| A. Wiggins | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| N. Topic | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| P. Sandfort | – | – | – | – |
| B. Barnhizer | – | – | – | – |
| B. Carlson | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 119 | 54 | 28 | 23 |
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