Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked rusty to begin the playoffs, especially when the MVP voting has just been finished. He finished with just 15 points on 4-13 shooting, along with five assists and three rebounds – and yet this is very worrying. In case you missed it, OKC won by a whopping total of 51 points as they took a 131-80 win and scored a 1-0 series lead over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Let that sink in. The best team in the league won by 51 points – which is the largest playoff win in franchise history, largest Game 1 win in NBA history, fifth largest win in playoff history, and the sixth 50-point blowout in league history – lots of history in just one game. What’s worse is that SGA himself had a bad game – which is very rare for the league’s leading MVP candidate.

Simply put, the Thunder decimated the Grizzlies right off the start, and they hounded them left and right to come up with one of the biggest wins in NBA history. So far, this was a far cry from last season’s Game 1 in the playoffs, where they had to shake off some rust before eking out a win against the Pelicans. This time, the Thunder played well and showed just how good they can be at this point.

A Massive Start to the Playoffs

OKC finished the game with a playoff-high 37 assists and shot a whopping 50.5% from the field. The Thunder had 22 forced turnovers on Memphis, along with 12 steals and eight blocks to stifle the Grizzlies – who had no answer for the surging avalanche that the Thunder came up with, especially in the second quarter.

After finishing the first quarter 32-20, they increased the lead to 41-22 and forced a Memphis timeout. Another flurry of scoring came, this time putting OKC up 51-22 – and forced another Grizzlies timeout. By the time that the Jalen Williams went up for a slam coming off a lob from Aaron Wiggins, OKC was already up 63-28, and the onslaught did not stop there.

OKC led by as many as 56 points, just two points shy of the playoff record for the biggest margin of victory. Denver defeated New Orleans 121-63 in 2009, while the Lakers slammed the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 in 1956. OKC took control in the second quarter when they had a 20-0 run, before finishing the half with a 35-point lead.

By the Numbers

OKC finished with all five starters scoring in double figures, and it was Aaron Wiggins who led the Thunder in scoring with 21 points – coming off the bench. Jalen Williams was all over the place with 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists, while Chet Holmgren had a standout night with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Hartenstein stamped his best game of the postseason yet with 14 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, all while missing just one field goal attempt.

Still, head coach Mark Daigneault believes that Memphis will make Game 2 a closer one than it was today, and is actively seeking to make the Thunder ready for that, which is why none of the OKC starters touched the court in the fourth quarter.

“They played 36 hours ago and had an emotional game, had to turn around and play at noon today, which is a really tough turnaround,” Daigneault said. "So they’re going to be better Tuesday. So I thought we did a good job. But I don’t think we can expect that from them (again). You know they’re going to play a lot better than that.”

Ja Morant finished as the leading scorer for the Grizzlies with 17 points, and so did Marvin Bagley III off the bench with a promising 8-8 shooting. Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr., who were two of Memphis’ heavy hitters, finished with a combined total of 13 points. No other Memphis player had more than 10 points.