Game 1 Bolts: Domination
The Thunder blitzed the Grizzlies in a dominating Game 1 win, asserting themselves as the behemoth they've played like all season to open up the playoffs. When a team wins by 51 points, there's not much to say about the fireworks aside from ooh and ahh. But here's a roundup of Thunder thoughts ahead of Game 2 tomorrow.
Darnell Mayberry (The Athletic) on the Thunder's dominating Game 1 win over Memphis: "From the opening tip, the Thunder’s swarming defense made everything difficult on the Grizzlies. Oklahoma City held Memphis to 34.4 percent shooting and forced 22 turnovers, which led to 22 Thunder points. OKC made Morant look ordinary with a 17-point performance on 6-for-17 shooting. The Thunder walled him off and turned him into a perimeter shooter and passer. With Lu Dort as his primary defender, three of Morant’s first four shot attempts came from 3-point range. Morant, a 31.6 percent career 3-point shooter, finished 1-for-6 from that distance Sunday. Memphis shot just 6-of-34 from 3-point range (17.6 percent). Things were worse for Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson, who had a nightmarish Game 1: four points, 2-for-13 shooting, three rebounds, two assists and three turnovers."
Daily Thunder Staff
William Guillory (The Athletic) on the Grizzlies need to turn the page: "The biggest challenge after games like this has nothing to do with X’s and O’s after the team’s next practice session. It’s about the Grizzlies showing they still believe in themselves and their chances of winning after being steamrolled. “We’ll never play that bad again,” Grizzlies star Ja Morant said after Sunday’s loss. “If we win Tuesday, the series is 1-1. Then, this game won’t matter.”
The NBA announced 2024-25 award finalists, and heavy favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the list. Lu Dort did not get a nod as a finalist for DPOY.
Google did a doodle for the NBA playoffs:
