In a dominant Game 1 win, Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the story for all the wrong reasons.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who jumped into traffic on multiple occasions Tuesday and drew a foul call to snag free throw attempts, was even called a “free throw merchant” on the TV broadcast by ESPN’s Doris Burke.
“There’s a reason NBA Twitter likes to call him ‘The Free Throw Merchant,’” Burke said midway through the first quarter.
Burke was surely using the term in a more endearing way than the fans at home were saying it as they watched a second half rout of the Timberwolves in the Thunder’s 114-88 win.
Perhaps Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards was thinking the same, as just a minute before Burke made that comment, Edwards received a technical foul for tossing the ball at Alexander after he drew a shooting foul for the third time in just a few minutes.
Gilgeous-Alexander drew four generous-looking shooting fouls between 10:40 and 7:38 of the first quarter.
The MVP candidate is averaging 9.2 free throw attempts per game in the playoffs, the most of any remaining player and the second-most among players who have played at least six 2025 playoff games.
One egregious moment came with a little more than three minutes left in the third quarter, when Gilgeous-Alexander drove into a sea of Timberwolves before tripping, falling down and generating a foul call.
Upon further review, it was revealed Alexander had tripped on his own feet and fell to the floor without being touched by defenders.
Minnesota coach Chris Finch challenged the play and won –– even the ESPN broadcast during replay oculdn’t defend his flopping.
“I don’t know if that’s a foul,” Richard Jefferson said on the broadcast. “Oh no, he just tripped … they’re reviewing that one.”
Mike Breen stayed mostly silent as the ESPN broadcast continued to show the embarrassing play by the expected league MVP.
Alexander was fouled 13 times during the game, including this one that was overturned, and many of them looked ticky-tack where he turned more into a theatrical dancer and actor than a basketball player.
Finch told reporters that there was a lot of frustration with the officiating.
“There was a lot of frustration out there but you know we talked about that before the series started,” Finch said postgame. “We have to be able to put that to the side and have a next play mentality.”
Gilgeous-Alexander is undoubtedly skilled at it, but basketball purists were not happy in real time.
Ringer founder Bill Simmons said on his podcast with guest Zach Lowe that “if you’re Minnesota, the one thing that you’re going to come out of the game, is ‘We have to get a better whistle on these SGA calls.’”
Lowe added that the Timberwolves were furious the whole game and that “some clips will be sent to the league office between Games 1 and 2.”
“I feel like Shai is getting this whistle that no one else in the playoffs is getting,” Simmons added. “These little touch fouls or these bumps where you’re not sure who initiated the bumps and he’s just getting it.”
Alexander ended the game 11 of 14 from the line, scoring 31 points with five rebounds and nine assists.
It will be interesting to see if the officiating adjusts in Game 2 on Thursday.
