This year’s NBA Playoffs have been some of the most physical in years, yet the calls Oklahoma City Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander got in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals made that statement look like an absolute joke. The amount of foul-baiting was gross, and the calls that went his way completely dismantled the way the rest of the playoffs have been officiated.
Don’t get it twisted—the Thunder deserved to win Game 1 against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gilgeous-Alexander’s free-throw antics weren’t the biggest difference in the game. OKC turned the game on its head in the third quarter, and Gilgeous-Alexander only took two free throws in that frame.
Still, the way he was officiated was beyond indefensible.
How bad were the calls on SGA?
Even when Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t getting to the free-throw line, the fouls called in his favor were egregious. At one point in the game, he drove toward the basket, tripped over nothing, and the refs still called the foul.
Jaden McDaniels put his arm on him a little bit before the drive, but there was no call there. The foul was called when Gilgeous-Alexander fell down, and nobody touched him. This one was eventually challenged, reviewed, and overturned, but the Wolves should have never had to challenge it in the first place.
In another instance, once again guarded by McDaniels, Gilgeous-Alexander drove to the basket. There was a bit of contact, but not nearly enough to make him fall over. Still, he got the call.
And again, driving through Anthony Edwards, Gilgeous-Alexander flopped his way through the contact in order to get an and-one.
Why are these foul calls so bad?
If this were the regular season, it’d be one thing. The calls would still be annoying, but a lot of teams get calls like that in the regular season. But these playoffs have been uncharacteristically physical. Stars are getting fewer calls than ever. Yet in Game 1 of the WCF, Gilgeous-Alexander got that whistle.
“It’s clearly more physical,” Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations said of this year’s postseason. “And I think a lot of us, as we watch it, probably liked that. But there’s a line, and I think that in the Orlando series especially, I thought, ‘I'm not sure that if we played 82 games like that, anybody would be left.’”
John Hollinger of The Athletic did a great job outlining some of the no-calls and physical plays being let go here.
“Honestly, I feel like the postseason is always physical,” LA Clippers wing Norman Powell said, via Hollinger. “They let things slide, they let you play and they let the best of the best win.”
That is why the Gilgeous-Alexander whistle in Game 1 was so embarrassing. Because it completely contradicts the way the NBA has chosen to call the rest of these playoffs.
No, SGA’s foul calls were not why the Thunder won. But yes, they were ridiculous.
Two things can be true. And the whistle Gilgeous-Alexander got in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals was an embarrassment to these NBA Playoffs.