Thunder open strong

Oklahoma City opened its first-round series by overwhelming Phoenix 119-84 on April 19, taking Game 1 at home and setting the tone early. (espn.com) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points in 29 minutes, and the Thunder led 35-20 after one quarter and 65-44 at halftime at Paycom Center. (nba.com) Oklahoma City won the possession battle as much as the scoring race. The Thunder forced 17 Phoenix turnovers, committed six of their own, and finished with a 54-45 rebounding edge and 34 points off turnovers. (foxsports.com) Phoenix got 23 points from Devin Booker, but the Suns never got the game into single digits after halftime and shot 34.9% from the field. (nba.com) The result fit the shape of this bracket. The first round of the 2026 National Basketball Association playoffs began April 18, and Oklahoma City entered as the West’s No. 1 seed against a Phoenix team that came in eighth. (nba.com) Betting markets and playoff previews had already treated the top seeds as the safer side of most first-round matchups. As of April 23, higher seeds were favored in seven of the eight series tracked by The Athletic. (nytimes.com) That made Game 1 less about a surprise and more about how Oklahoma City won it. The Thunder did not need a late rally or a huge minutes load from Gilgeous-Alexander; they built a 21-point halftime lead and coasted. (espn.com) The series also opened under the weight of Oklahoma City’s recent history. The Thunder finished 64-18 in the regular season and entered the postseason as the defending champions, while Phoenix arrived needing to solve the West’s top team on the road. (espn.com) By April 23, Oklahoma City had pushed the series lead to 2-0, but the first message came in Game 1: Phoenix had to find a way to slow Gilgeous-Alexander and protect the ball, or the matchup would tilt quickly. (gmanetwork.com)