The OKC Thunder managed to take a 1-0 series lead in their Western Conference Finals bout against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday night, besting the sixth-seeds by a final score of 114-88.
During the hours following the series opener, many have been highlighting the club's stellar rotational depth and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's MVP-worthy production as the primary reasons for their commanding win.
However, taking a backseat in the limelight to Oklahoma City's promising offensive display that saw their cornerstone drop 31 points, all players who logged over nine minutes of action contributing to the final score, and the team as a whole shooting 50.0 percent from the floor and 52.4 percent from deep, was their defensive efforts, namely those put forth against Wolves guard Anthony Edwards.
As a result of their play on the less glamorous side of the ball, the Thunder wound up holding the Wolves to one of their worst offensive displays of the playoffs and, more impressively, found a way to take Edwards' most reliable aspect of his game away from him.
Thunder eliminated Anthony Edwards' points in the paint presence
Without question, one of the biggest parts of the T-Wolves star's game is his ability to drive the lane and buy buckets within close range.
With his strength and awe-inspiring athleticism, Edwards wrapped up the 2024-25 season with a ridiculous 644 points scored in the paint, roughly 40.0 percent of his total of 1,612.
Leading into Tuesday's season opener, this type of play had flowed seamlessly into the 2025 NBA Playoffs, as the All-Star had recorded 116 of his 265 total points down in the painted area (43.7 percent of his points scored).
Game 1, however, seemed to see a completely different version of Edwards' offensive approach, as just one of his 13 shot attempts came in the paint.
Following the contest, the 23-year-old admitted that the defensive game plan Oklahoma City used against him played a significant role in his limited activity down low, as he told reporters post-game, "they're just in the gaps," and acknowledged that they made it "hard to get into the paint."
"They definitely took that aspect of my game away tonight from getting downhill. Good job to those guys," Edwards said.
Throughout the regular season, the Thunder proved themselves to be the most effective defense against interior scoring, as they allowed the fewest points in the paint per game with an average of just 42.5.
This postseason, they've held strong on this front by even lowering this number to a mere 38.8.
In Game 1, they allowed the Timberwolves to register just 20, and a large reason for this was due to their strong emphasis of closing off lanes for Anthony Edwards.
Hopefully they can continue to be as successful against the star guard moving forward in this series.