The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 114-88, in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday inside the Paycom Center.
Following a tight first half in which the Timberwolves held a four-point lead over their division rivals, the home team rallied behind league MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander throughout the remaining 24 minutes. The 26-year-old guard scored 31 points and made 11 of his 14 attempted free throws to seal Oklahoma City's first win of the series.
Oklahoma City’s come-from-behind triumph made ESPN sportscaster Kendrick Perkins change his predictions on the series. During Wednesday’s episode of ESPN’s “Get Up,” Perkins, 40, said after watching Game 1 on Tuesday that the Timberwolves are in trouble because the Thunder didn’t play great in his opinion.
“This series is not going past six games,” Perkins said. “Minnesota might get one. I saw it last night with my own two eyes. The Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t even play their best basketball.”
Perkins' change in opinion comes after he boldly predicted on Sunday that the series will go seven-games. At the time, Perkins refused to pick a winner but instead claimed it will be a physical series.
According to Perkins on Sunday, Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards will play with a chip on his shoulder, especially if Gilgeous-Alexander is awarded the league MVP. By the end of Game 1, Edwards only scored 18 points and made five of 13 shots from the field compared to Gilgeous-Alexander’s near double-double performance (31 points, nine assists).
Kendrick Perkins
Former NBA player and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins.
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
Now that the former center has made his latest prediction on the Western Conference finals, we will see how the rest of the series plays out to determine whether he’s right or wrong.