The OKC Thunder took care of business on their home court during Tuesday's Western Conference Finals opener, putting forth a full team effort en route to a 114-88 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The contest proved to be a major luxury for Oklahoma City for a plethora of reasons. The club's elite depth shining through, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander converting naysayers into supporters on his MVP quest, OKC taking a 1-0 series lead -- frankly, the list of examples goes on and on.
However, what seems to reign supreme over all other positive takeaways is the fact that, in their 48 minute face-off, an obvious flaw in Minnesota's game was revealed, and it could prove to be an area in which the Thunder should look to exploit the rest of the way.
Thunder dominate Timberwolves in transition offense during Game 1
Throughout the regular season, both the Thunder and T-Wolves fell on completely opposite sides when it came to effectiveness in transition offense sets, with the former (16.1) ranking well within the top half in fast break points while the latter (13.6) placed in the bottom five.
OKC would also generate a league-leading 21.8 points off turnovers per game, with Minnesota seeing a middling 17.6.
Digging even deeper, it's revealed that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the league leader in individual points created off turnovers (394) and was seventh in fast break points (290).
This level of production for both clubs (as well as SGA) has only seemed to flow right on into the NBA Playoffs, and, more importantly, this type of transition disparity between them was only made all the more obvious during their Game 1 showdown.
On the night, the Thunder found themselves playing their typical elite two-way brand of ball, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor, 52.4 percent from distance, and forcing Minnesota into a whopping 17 turnovers.
As a result, their ability to score efficiently and force mistakes led Oklahoma City to capitalize to the fullest extent, as they registered 12 points off fast breaks and 31 points off turnovers.
On the flip side, the T-Wolves found themselves being completely outmatched in this area of play, as they saw only 10 points scored off turnovers and posted a shockingly bad zero fast break points.
It goes without saying that Minnesota is a dangerous team that, with their top-notch star power with the likes of Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle leading the charge, can inflict serious damage upon an opponent if they're not careful.
Because of this, OKC must understand that they need to take advantage of any and all weaknesses that the Timberwolves have if they want to improve their odds of advancing to the championship round.
From both their production in the regular season and through the playoffs so far, it seems quite apparent that the Thunder must look to exploit their superiority in transition offense moving forward.
Such an approach worked wonders in Game 1. Hopefully it can play a significant role in them snatching up three more wins in this round three bout.