Nickeil Alexander-Walker tried his best to rally his troops as the third quarter was winding down in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
They were men in black, drowning in a ferocious white storm.
His cousin, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, just converted an and-one over Anthony Edwards. It was Edwards’ fourth foul of the night. While Alexander-Walker tried to calm his teammates, Edwards smiled in disbelief, not paying attention to any message NAW tried to convey. Ant didn’t like the call, which forced Chris Finch to sub him out.
“There was a lot of frustration out there,” Finch said postgame. “We talked about that before the series started. We have to be able to put that aside, and get on with the next-play mentality.”
The Oklahoma City Thunder closed the third quarter on a 20-6 run. The Minnesota Timberwolves trailed by ten entering the fourth, and a loss was bearing down on them. A ten-point lead in the second half is modest for OKC’s standards. They buried their opponent 68 times in the regular season, primarily by going on inevitable runs after halftime.
It’s in their name. You can feel the Thunder’s runs rumbling like a storm in the distance. Finch could see the flashes of lightning at halftime in Game 1. The Wolves were up by four, and the storm had yet to hit the Wolves. But the air thickened inside Paycom Center.
Minnesota didn’t prepare for the forecasted storm. Finch needed more from his team to ward off the Thunder’s second-half strike in their 114-88 win.
“We didn’t have a lot of patience in the second half,” Finch said postgame. “And then our rushed offense didn’t get a bunch of quality looks. And then it affected our defense, honestly. We got some fouls early, which I thought made us a bit softer than we needed to be.”
“Our offense affected our defense, and that can’t happen.”
Despite the Timberwolves leading by four at halftime, they played exactly how OKC wanted. Julius Randle was on a heater, notching 20 points on 5 of 6 from deep. But the Thunder could absorb that because they played good defense against him while forcing the Wolves into nine turnovers, resulting in 18 points on the other end.
ARE YOU KIDDING?!? pic.twitter.com/X9vMwOTBYm
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 21, 2025
Randle bailed the Wolves out numerous times with contested threes. However, his shot-making alone wasn’t a sustainable way for the Timberwolves to steal Game 1. Not with OKC’s ability to go on a game-altering run in the blink of an eye, and Minnesota’s lack of bench production.
“We had some good looks,” Finch said postgame regarding his bench. “I thought we had some rushed looks, too. But we’ve got to do a better job of repeating the things that we know we can find out there, getting a better rhythm, and those shots will go in.”
The Wolves finished Game 1 with 26 bench points, nearly ten below their regular-season average (35). Finch has raved about Minnesota having eight starters all year, particularly because of the offensive threats that Donte DiVincenzo and Naz Reid pose. However, they shot a combined 4 of 25 (16%) on Tuesday. Alexander-Walker also shot 3 of 11 (27.3%).
OKC outscored Minnesota by a combined 55 points during the trio’s 86 minutes. The Wolves shot 15 of 51 (29.4%) from deep as a team in Game 1, going 11 of 39 (28.2%) on open attempts. Minnesota’s shooting woes were more than just missing open shots; it was the process by which the team generated them.
“There are a lot of good shots out there,” Finch said. “I think we have to clean things up a bit. Sometimes the passes were late. Sometimes we weren’t quite shot-ready. Sometimes we needed to turn them into other plays. But I did think that we got a number of really good looks, and we really couldn’t connect when the game was turning against us.”
Game 1 turning against the Wolves was inevitable because OKC always goes on runs. Minnesota must endure bruising punches when they come and find a way to land harder blows. That can come with a string of momentous shots or locking down defensively.
The Wolves could not do either of those things in the second half of Game 1.
SHAI GETS THE BUCKET & FOUL 💪💪
Thunder end the 3Q on a 20-6 run & lead by 10 entering the fourth ⛈️
MIN-OKC | West Finals Game 1 | ESPN pic.twitter.com/bh9npfEVLp
— NBA (@NBA) May 21, 2025
Gilgeous-Alexander led the second-half storm for OKC. After Minnesota held him to 11 points in the first half on 2 of 13 shooting, SGA erupted for a 20-point piece in the second half alone. He shot 8 of 12 from two-point range, getting to his spots and picking apart any matchup the Wolves threw at him.
Meanwhile, Randle and Edwards recorded 13 points on 5 of 11 shooting over the final 24 minutes. Randle was Minnesota’s only source of efficient shot-making in the first half, and OKC turned him into a relative non-factor in the second.
“I didn’t see anything necessarily different,” Finch said regarding OKC’s defensive approach against Randle in the second half. “That’s on me. I’ve got to get him the ball. I’ve got to get him more involved to start the second half.”
Even if Randle had continued on the scoring pace he was on in the first half, it probably wouldn’t have been enough for the Wolves to walk out of Paycom Center with a Game 1 win.
The Thunder outscored them 70-40 in the second half by shooting 26 of 42 (61.9%) from the floor, 10 of 11 (90.9%) from the foul stripe, and 8 of 13 (61.5%) from deep. Minnesota let its deflating shot-making impact its defense. As Finch mentioned, that cannot happen, especially against a team like OKC in the Conference Finals.
The Wolves also finished Game 1 with 19 turnovers, which the Thunder converted into 31 points – a playoff-high points off turnovers the Wolves have allowed. They are averaging 20.5 turnovers over their last four games. The Wolves beat the Steph Curry-less Golden State Warriors while flirting with 20 turnovers, but Game 1 further proved they can’t against OKC.
Timberwolves over the last four games:
vs OKC (L): 19 turnovers, resulting in 31 points
vs GSW (W): 21 turnovers, resulting in 26 points
vs GSW (W): 21 turnovers, resulting in 24 points
vs GSW (W): 21 turnovers, resulting in 13 points
Gotta control it better against OKC.
— Charlie Walton (@CharlieWaltonMN) May 21, 2025
“We definitely need to find a rhythm in this series,” Finch said. “Every series is a little bit different, with how people guard you, and whatnot. I thought we came out and tried to play the same way we always did, and that wasn’t going to work tonight. We have to figure out a different rhythm of play.”
To split the series 1-1, the Wolves must convert open threes and get more from their bench. Still, it’s not that simple. OKC’s thunderous run in the third quarter – however anticipated it may have been – drenched any hope Minnesota had at gutting out a win on Tuesday. The Wolves led for most of the first half, but they put themselves in a losing position by playing like they did against Golden State.
The Wolves need to better prepare themselves for when OKC opens the floodgates.