Chris Finch opened his post-game interview following the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 114-88 Game 1 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder by discussing Minnesota’s defense.
“Our offense affected our defense,” Finch said pointedly. “That can’t happen.”
Looking back on the loss, that rings true. The Wolves played solid defense in the first half, building a 48-44 lead. Then, in the third quarter, the missed shots on offense fueled the frustration on defense, causing the Thunder to pull away and lock the game up by going on a 20-6 run to end the third.
The Wolves must shoot better to win the series. Just as importantly, they can’t allow missed shots on offense to affect the defense.
Minnesota shot terribly in Game 1, finishing the game shooting 29 of 83 (34.9%) from the field and 15 of 51 (29.4%) from three. Julius Randle was the only player to shoot above 50%, and he was 9 of 13. That means the rest of the Wolves shot 20 of 70 (28.6%) from the field and 10 of 45 (22.2%) from three.
To make matters worse, the Wolves shot 6 of 14 on layups and whiffed on all six of their fast break opportunities. Naz Reid spoke on missing shots after the game.
“A couple in-and-out 3s,” Reid said. “I couldn’t buy a bucket. Donte missed a few. Nickeil hit it at the end.
“Just missing a bunch of in-and-outs and all that good stuff.”
Reid, Donte DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker shot 7 of 36 (19.4%) for the game.
By the NBA’s metrics, 62 of Minnesota’s 83 total shots (74.7%) were wide open (no defender within 4 feet of the attempt). On those attempts, they shot 16 of 62 (25.8%). Of the 62 attempts, 48 were considered open or wide-open threes, and the Wolves shot 14 of 48 (29.2%).
The Wolves’ offense has been struggling throughout the playoffs. Their true shooting has dropped from 58.8% to 56.4%. However, they have been averaging 11.7 of 33.3 (35.1%) on open or wide-open threes, compared to 13.8 of 36 (38.3%) in the regular season, highlighting the gravity of their poor shooting. In the playoffs, they’ve lost 9 of 15 points in threes that they usually make on wide-open shots.
Increase Minnesota’s volume of 33 to 36 open threes per game to 48, and it’s easy to see why they got frustrated. Especially for typically great shooters like Alexander-Walker, Reid, and DiVincenzo, who all shot 37.9% or better over the regular season.
The poor shooting was just the beginning of Minnesota’s vicious cycle after they led 60-56 with 7:22 to go in the third. Its shooting struggles allowed the Thunder to crowd the paint more, forcing the ball out of Randle’s hands in the second half.
Oklahoma City began leaving DiVincenzo and Alexander-Walker open to more aggressively double and hound Randle so that he could no longer get to his spots or get open for three.
Anthony Edwards had to carry the offense when the Thunder took Randle out of the game. He often tried to make the right play, passing the ball to open shooters and trusting his teammates to hit the shots. However, as Finch said after the game, Minnesota’s misses affected its defense.
Minnesota’s defense posted an 88.0 defensive rating in the first half of Game 1. The Wolves were engaged and hounded the Thunder. Their offense was not great, but it was clicking. They hit 10 of 28 threes, and Randle had 20 points.
However, when the shots dried up further in the third and OKC’s defense focused on Randle, the Wolves shot 6 of 19 from the field and 3 of 13 from three. That caused Minnesota’s defensive rating to skyrocket to 133.3, a 45.3 increase from the first half.
The fourth quarter got even worse for the defense. Their rating rose to 165.2.
Minnesota needs to hit shots to have a chance of winning the series. However, if their defense follows the offense like in Game 1, the Wolves may not win a game in the series. Thankfully, the Wolves have another chance to get right on Thursday before returning to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4.
The series is far from over, but the Wolves must find their shooting touch.