Don’t feel bad if you forgot the Memphis Grizzlies were playing the Oklahoma City Thunder today, because so did the players who were on the floor.
It did not take long for the game to get out of hand in what turned out to be a complete nightmare performance from the Grizzlies’ perspective. Memphis jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the early parts of this game, and that is about where the positive takeaways end.
Oklahoma City finished the first quarter with a 32-20 lead and never looked back. They blew the game open in the second quarter, outscoring Memphis 36-16 to take a 68-36 lead into halftime. This 36-point margin was both the largest halftime lead in Thunder playoff history and the largest deficit in Grizzlies playoff history. The NBA record is a 50-point lead at halftime, although this occurred during the regular season and was the Mavericks over the Clippers back in 2020.
Things went from bad to worse in the second half, with the Thunder never taking their foot off the gas. Oklahoma City outscored Memphis 44-27 in the third quarter and built up a lead as high as 56 in the game. The game officially ended as a 131-80 Thunder victory. This marks the largest margin of victory of any Game 1 in NBA playoff history.
Most concerning, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not play his best basketball today. The likely MVP was held to 15 points, five assists, and three rebounds, shooting 4-for-13 from the field and 1-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc. He was held under his scoring prop of 32.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook, and this marked the first time he was held to under 20 points in a game since October 30, 2024. He only needed to play 23 minutes in the matchup, with all of the starters logging 26 minutes or less.
Aaron Wiggins led the Thunder in scoring with 21 points off the bench. Jalen Williams led the starters with 20 points as well as six assists, and five rebounds. He also added to his highlight reel with an impressive dunk.
JALEN WILLIAMS ONE-HAND SLAM‼️ pic.twitter.com/0BIcpGOZZo
— ESPN (@espn) April 20, 2025
Chet Holmgren also finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Isaiah Hartenstein added 14 points and eight rebounds. Every starter finished with a plus/minus of +22 or greater.
There is not much to write home about from the Grizzlies’ perspective. Ja Morant and Marvin Bagley III each dropped 17 points, which led the team in scoring. Morant shot 6-17 from the field and 1-for-6 from beyond the three-point arc, unable to dive into his rolodex of celebrations. No other member of the Grizzlies scored in double figures in the lifeless blowout loss.
As a team, Memphis shot just 34.4% from the field and 17.6% from beyond the three-point arc. They were outrebounded 54-43. Oklahoma City also scored 60 points in the paint and 27 points on the fast break.
Based on the DraftKings Sportsbook odds, the line closed with the Thunder favored by 14.5 points and had no trouble covering this number. The game total finished at 211, remaining under the total.
Jared Jackson Jr. giving advice to Zach Edey down 50 😬
(via @MrBuckBuckNBA)pic.twitter.com/Z9ZfTzjGTr
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) April 20, 2025
As Jaren Jackson Jr. pointed out while being in the unfortunate spot of being mic’d up during this beatdown, Memphis must learn from the loss. It is a seven-game series for a reason, and the Grizzlies must wipe away the disastrous start to the series if they hope to have any sort of chance.
The Thunder opened the series with -1800 odds to win the series while the Grizzlies held +900 odds on DraftKings Sportsbook. 94% of the best and 98% of the handle on DraftKings is backing the Thunder to advance.
Following the commanding victory, the Thunder have shifted to -4000 favorites while the Grizzlies hold +1500 odds of moving on. The Thunder hold -400 odds of covering the -2.5 series spread on DraftKings Sportsbook, while you can bet the +600 odds of Memphis covering the +1.5 series spread if you believe in them to bounce back.
The second game of this series will be on Tuesday, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET. Oklahoma City are -14.5 favorites in the Game 2 matchup while the Grizzlies hold +675 odds of winning on the moneyline.
