The first 39 minutes were beautiful. The Thunder had pressed the gas, starting a small ball unit of Shai, JDub, Dort, Cason, and Chet. Once more, OKC couldn't hit make anything. Once more, it didn't matter, as OKC's other massive edges had eclipsed another cold shooting* night. The frenetic Thunder guard dogs forced 19 (!) first half turnovers, and maintained a 10+ point lead for most of the game.
But there were cracks. Only Shai (38 pts/3 ast/5 rbs/3 stl) and Dort (15 points, 5-9 3PA, 4 steals and 2 blocks) were capable of much on offense, with Jalen (17 points on 6-19 shooting) and especially Chet (6 points, 2-9 FGA) looking nowhere near as mighty of Big Three members as they did in the conference finals.