Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of sorts in OKC's Game 1 win over Lakers

Everything that could've gone wrong for Gilgeous-Alexander did. The Lakers completely threw him off-kilter with constant double teams. Once that bold game plan resulted in tangible turnovers and missed shots, they got even more daring. At one point, four Los Angeles players had their eyes set on the reigning MVP.

One of Gilgeous-Alexander's superpowers is his elite ball security. Rarely does he turn it over multiple times in the same game. That's something you just don't see from a high-usage NBA superstar like him. But the Lakers made him look like Luka Doncic with seven turnovers. As wacky as their defensive game plan looked, it worked out.

"I was loose with the ball. Had a lot of turnovers. I think that goes into the rust and not playing for a little bit, they're obviously very aggressive," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I feel like for most of the night, we got great looks. Sometimes, they didn't go down. We got great looks on offense."

Elsewhere, Gilgeous-Alexander struggled to generate looks. That comes with the territory of how he was defended. Seldom did he get any one-on-one opportunities. The Lakers ensured those were limited. That likely explains why he finished with fewer than 20 points for the first time this whole season. But he'll take that if it means his teammates get easy buckets. Points are points on the scoreboard.

"It took a little bit to get us clicking tonight. But like I said, we eventually got there in the second half. Those types of things ultimately is the easiest form of basketball. I'd much rather do that than have to go one-on-one all night over somebody," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "My teammates on the backend playing four-on-three is what you play for. Every play starts with creating an advantage. Just to be given an advantage, we'll play for it as much as we can. I think we did a good job attacking that confidently tonight."

They were able to get away with it this time, but the Thunder need more from Gilgeous-Alexander. If you roll out this type of production from your MVP candidate — especially without Jalen Williams — that could lead to dropping some bad losses. The rest of the team stepped up, but this is not a long-term winning formula. They need him to return to being an efficient 30-plus point machine.

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of sorts in OKC's Game 1 win over Lakers