Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Matthew Stockman/Getty Images
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder drives against Nickeil Alexander-Walker #9 of the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second quarter in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.
Chris Finch is about as straight of a shooter as there is in professional sports.
So when the Minnesota Timberwolves coach was asked his team’s frustration over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s ability to draw fouls, he put the onus on his team to get better.
“There was a lot of frustration out there,” Finch said after Minnesota’s 114-89 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on Tuesday. “We talked about that before the series started, and we have to be able to kind of put that to the side and get on with the next-play mentality.”
Gilgeous-Alexander made 11 of 14 from the free-throw line in Oklahoma City’s win over Minnesota in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Tuesday.
He attempted one fewer free throw than the Timberwolves made in Game 1, and Gilgeous-Alexander’s seven made foul shots in the first half helped him get on track after a 2 for 13 start.
Those fouls affected the T-Wolves too. Despite scoring 20 first-half points, Julius Randle picked up three first-half fouls, and Rudy Gobert had two fouls in the first two minutes of the game.
“We got some fouls early, which I thought made us a bit softer than we needed to be,” Finch said. “I thought the second one [on Gobert] was a little unforgiving.”
‘Gotta Clean Things Up’
The Timberwolves were ahead 48-44 at halftime and were in a position to potentially steal Game 1 in Oklahoma City, no small feat given the Thunder’s dominance there all year.
Instead, Minnesota was outscored 70-40 in the second half. Star guard Anthony Edwards amassed just five points — and did not score in the fourth quarter where the Thunder outscored the T-Wolves 38-22.
The T-Wolves made just 14 of 40 field-goal attempts in the second half, and the Thunder shot 61.9 percent from the field over the final 24 minutes.
“We didn’t have a lot of patience in the second half,” Finch said. “Our rushed offense didn’t get a bunch of quality looks, and it affected our defense.”
Though their offense struggled in the second half, the Timberwolves had opportunities, according to Finch.
“There are a lot of good shots out there,” Finch said. “We gotta clean things up a little bit. … I did think we got a number of really good looks, and we just couldn’t connect when the game was kind of turning against us.”
Power Outage
Edwards and Randle combined for 33 points in the first half but only amassed 13 in the second half. Randle did not score in 10 minutes in the third quarter — he took only one field goal — and scored eight on 3 of 5 shooting over the final 24 minutes.
“I didn’t see necessarily anything different,” Finch said of Randle’s second half. “That’s on me. I gotta get him the ball. I gotta get him more involved in the second half.”
Then, Edwards, who briefly exited after tweaking his ankle in the first half, put up a zero in the fourth quarter.
“When guys are struggling to shoot, they want to see one go in,” Finch said. “We definitely need to find a rhythm in this series, every series is different in how teams guard you. I thought we tried to come out and play the same way we always did, and that wasn’t going to work tonight.”