Game Recap: Timberwolves 143, Thunder 101
MINNEAPOLIS — What does a 42-point beatdown do for the team that issued the punishment? To the team that was left bloodied? To the state of the Western Conference Finals which has folks flummoxed over the latest result?
All good questions, and all will be answered in due time. This much is clear though: The Timberwolves threw the top-seeded Thunder and the series for a loop with their relentless response to falling behind 2-0.
By winning so resoundingly in Game 3 against a team that won 68 regular season games, perhaps the Wolves will be viewed differently in this series. Certainly, they will not be swept. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will not steamroll past Anthony Edwards. And if the Wolves follow up with the same force at home Monday (8:30 ET, ESPN), there’s a solid chance they will see a deadlocked best-of-seven.
Without question, this was the best the Wolves can play. Their 3-pointers dropped. Their defense flexed. They made better decisions with the ball. Their star elevated his play. They gave Terrence Shannon Jr. — surely you’re aware of him — a chance to introduce himself.
And they didn’t have those costly five-minute lapses which plagued them in the first two games, allowing OKC to seize advantage and stretch the score.
They dropped a team playoff-record 143 points on the best defense in the league, which didn’t seem probable. They handed OKC its worst loss of the season. Basically, the Wolves did everything except allow suspense and drama to creep into Target Center. And that’s why there’s the impression, at least, that the series has new life.
Here are five takeaways from Wolves 143, Thunder 101 and a Game 3 that stood out from the previous two based on who won, and by how much.
1. Ant’s legacy demanded more
There are times in a young star player’s life when he reaches the fork in the journey and must decide: Stay status quo, or step up? Edwards made a hard right turn Saturday, saved the Wolves’ season and polished his rep in the process.
He really had no choice in Game 3. The series was getting away from the Wolves and, in the competition among stars in this series, Gilgeous-Alexander was getting away from him.
So Edwards was forceful from the jump, inspiring his teammates to match his energy, and that’s why the Wolves put this game to bed early. Edwards did exactly what a leader and centerpiece needed to do. The situation begged for it.
Stepback 3-pointers … hard drives to the rim …split through defenders … pull-up middies. All that, along with rebounds in traffic and slaying double-teams by finding teammates for open jumpers. That was Edwards until OKC waved the white flag.
Edwards has now raised the bar since he slogged through much of Game 1. He was the lone factor in the Wolves’ Game 2 loss, and now this. Of course, now he must keep this same energy in order for the Wolves to flip this series in their favor.
“That’s what he needed to do to take us to the next level,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “He’s learning so fast and seeing so much. He’s kind of grown along with it. He’s more comfortable out there in what he’s trying to do.”
2. Shai’s first slip in the postseason
Gilgeous-Alexander had five straight 30-point games, averaged 29.7 points in the seven-game semifinals and 27.8 in the first round. You must rewind to the first game of that opening series to spot the last time he was underwhelming, and it didn’t matter then; OKC won by 52 points over Memphis.
So this Game 3 effort was … different, to say the least.
Who had Shai being outscored by a little-used rookie (Shannon) in a playoff game?
This was so unlike the newly-crowned Kia MVP, to struggle to reach his spots, to see shots spin out or not even come close to falling through the net, to basically be a non-factor.
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 4-for-13, never established a rhythm and his turnovers matched his made field goals. His 14 points were a season low and roughly 19 below his league-leading average.
Even more, because he benefited from controversial foul calls in the first two games, Shai was relentlessly booed every time he touched the ball — “free-throw merchant” they yelled — which also was odd. Like, this was perhaps a first for Shai on the road.
Well, good news for Wolves fans: Gilgeous-Alexander attempted only four free throws. That’s four buckets, four free throws, four turnovers. Or, to paraphrase Moses Malone in the 1983 playoffs, ‘fo, ‘fo and ‘fo.
“We were a little cleaner around him,” said Finch with a wry smile. “We didn’t foul. He’s not going to have too many nights like this, so we feel kind of fortunate.”
3. Big bench boost for the Wolves
After his team fell behind 2-0 in the series, Finch needed to make an adjustment, something to catch OKC by surprise. Well Finch did one better: He shocked OKC because, surely, the Thunder didn’t even have a player who spent significant time in the G League in their playoff scouting reports.
Shannon played only 20 minutes in the playoffs prior to Saturday, so this was either a decision of desperation by Finch, or gutsy confidence in a player on the deep end of the rotation, or both. Whatever — it worked.
Shannon entered the game in the second quarter, when the game was somewhat competitive, and played like someone who didn’t want to leave. He scored the first time he touched the ball, and the second. He made something happen on the floor; again, this was a player who had to wipe away the cobwebs.
“We knew we would need him in this series and coach has a lot of trust in him,” Julius Randle said.
Shannon had nine points in four second-quarter minutes that felt and looked like a blizzard. The crowd gave him a standing ovation when he went to the bench. Without question, given the circumstances, it was his career night; he finished with 15 points in 13 minutes.
“I always worked,” he said. “I always stayed ready for when my name was called. And I’ll be ready when it’s called again.”
Doesn’t really matter if Shannon doesn’t match this performance for the rest of the series. He had an impact in victory. And now he has a spot in the scouting report.
4. OKC’s defense takes a beating
Wherever the Thunder played defense, records or new standards often followed. Well, here’s another — Minnesota set an additional franchise playoff record with 72 points in the first half.
Stunning, yes, to witness the Thunder reach for balls yet come up empty, to swat at shots yet touch only air, to fail to keep the Wolves from pouring it on.
The most points surrendered by OKC in a playoff game this season was 121 to the Nuggets. And OKC allowed just 107 per game during the season. Yes, some context is in order; Game 3 was a blowout that got completely out of hand once the benches emptied in the fourth quarter.
Still, OKC trailed by 37 at the start of the fourth, before the subs, and 31 at the half.
“Their force was better than our physicality and pressure, things that we typically do well,” OKC coach Mark Daigneault said. “We’ll address it and be a better team.”
5. Randle rolls with the benching
For the second straight game, Randle didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Here’s the difference — he sat smiling on the bench in Game 3, and steaming in Game 2.
Finch made a surprising decision to sit Randle in the fourth two nights earlier because Randle struggled mightily in by far his worst performance of the playoffs. He wasn’t thrilled, partly because the leash was noticeably short, partly because, as he said, “I’m a competitor.”
“We spoke this morning. It really wasn’t his fault,” Finch explained. “We were down and we had to change the complexity on the floor. I was extremely proud of his response. We needed him to get back to doing what he does.”
Randle: “Obviously I want to play and I know he trusts me to do that. I also trust him to do what’s best for the team. I know he has no ill intent. For me it’s about the bounce back, how you come back the next day. I just wanted to be aggressive.”
Which he was. Randle was lively and played with energy — perhaps anger — at the start. He scored 24 points on 9-for-15 shooting and, even better, had no turnovers.
These games are important to Randle. He wants to completely shed a playoff reputation, fair or not, he carved with the Knicks. And he can become a free agent this summer. After a one-game hiccup, he seems back on track — and on the floor in the fourth quarter.
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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on X.
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