Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals is in the rearview mirror, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have a 1-0 lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Thunder secured a 114-88 blowout victory over the Timberwolves to kick off the series, which is on their home floor for the first two games.
Home-court advantage means everything in the NBA, and the Thunder has one of the best fan bases and crowds in the entire league.
Oklahoma City won the game by attempting a season-low 21 3-pointers in the contest, though, whereas the Timberwolves shot 51 times from deep.
The two different approaches had wildly different results for each team. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault spoke on the low volume of 3-pointers after the game.
“We took a lot of shots in the paint tonight. On the gas in the paint," Daigneault explained.
Having Shai Gilgeous-Alexander -- who could very soon be named the Most Valuable Player of the season -- lead the way makes paint touches much easier.
With the aggression, Gilgeous-Alexander shot 14 free throws. This left NBA fans in a frenzy, though.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Getty Images
The Thunder superstar guard has been all over social media since the final buzzer -- and even before -- as fans are either tired of or defending his ability to draw fouls.
"The way Shai plays is why people stopped watching the NBA. Refs gotta stop giving him a whistle," one fan wrote.
"It’s been 4 minutes and Shai has attempted 8 free throws. Ridiculous," another fan wrote.
"I think it’s extremely funny that Shai had 14 free throws with 27 shot attempts and Ant had 7 free throws with 13 shot attempts," one fan noticed. "Ant actually got to the line at a higher rate per attempt than Shai lmao"
"Shai….stop grifting and play basketball bro," one fan added.
Like it or not, the calls are being made and Gilgeous-Alexander is getting to the line.
On top of that, it was a 26-point game. There was plenty of good and bad outside of the play of the Kentucky product.
However, it seems all social media can talk about is Gilgeous-Alexander's ability to get to the free throw line.