NBA Play-offs: OKC raises voice immediately with Phoenix and sends message to all

“We already won last year, we know what it takes.” Hartenstein’s words on the eve of the start of the playoffs. The OKC long shot knew what he was saying, as the Thunder came into Game 1 of the series with the Suns, the first round of the post season, as focused as ever.

The reigning NBA Champions started the playoffs with a great performance at the Paycom Center, overwhelming the Phoenix Suns 119-84 (25 points by Gilgeous-Alexander). It’s a similar start to last season, when they annihilated the Memphis Grizzlies by 51 points in Game 1 of a series they later won 4-0, taking the first step toward the title.

“It’s not that we go into Game 1 thinking, ‘Okay, let’s just destroy them without too much trouble’ Rather, we ask ourselves, ‘How hard can we work to impose our pace?’ For us, not just the Suns. We have to play the way we’re expected to play, from the first man to the last man,” the words of Thunder wing Jalen Williams, scorer of 22 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists, reported by ESPN.

In the other games, Boston wins, easily, against Philadelphia (123-91) and runs away to 1-0 in the series. It falls, badly, Detroit, beaten by Orlando (112-101 the final). Finally, thanks to 35 points from Wembanyama, San Antonio won the first act of the series with Portland: 111-98 the final.