Shai Gilgeous-Alexander explains how driving to basket correlates to free throws

Each time Gilgeous-Alexander went to the free-throw line, the uniformed OKC crowd synchronized an MVP chant. He had 15 points in the first half. He added 10 more in the third quarter before he sat out the final frame. Reading the room, he didn't really force any shots. Instead, he enjoyed his fellow All-Star teammates picking up the load in this Game 1 bludgeoning.

"In the playoffs, over a run, when you have a chance to win games, you need to win games. Being the one seed, both of our opponents the last two years have come off playing, so they're a little bit more tired, but we still have to do our job, go out there and win," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Now, this team is going to get better throughout the series. It's who they are. It's who they've been all year. They have really good players, well coached, play really hard, play the right way. We have to be ready to get better as well and expect a better team on the other end. They're going to be better for the rest of the series."

We'll see if Gilgeous-Alexander gets better as he gains more reps. That seems to be his usual playoff journey. The deeper the Thunder get, the better he plays. Wasn't really consequential that he didn't completely torch the Suns as a scorer. He made up for it in other areas of his game.

Briefly mentioned earlier, but Gilgeous-Alexander's free-throw attempts will draw up plenty of conversation. Justified or not, he's become the face of the anti-foul-drawing committee. One of the popular beliefs over the years was that his regular-season whistle would dry up come the playoffs. Well, can't really say that's been the case. Let's see how the goalpost is moved now.

"When you drive the ball a lot, you get fouled a lot. Just because most of the fouls happen on drives," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I drive the ball a lot. That probably adds up to it. I just try to get better at many aspects over the years in the league and try to be able to attack team defenses in multiple ways. I feel like I've done so. Been able to score a few points because of it."

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander says driving to basket correlates to free throws