The Thunder led 70-64 with four minutes, 52 seconds remaining in the third before closing on a 23-7 run to lead 93-71 entering the fourth. The Wolves committed five of their 14 turnovers in the third, and Oklahoma City converted those into 12 points. The Wolves shot 6-for-20 and 0-for-6 from three-point range. Another disaster of a quarter that began after they again bungled the end of the first half and let the Thunder score five points in the last 16.4 seconds of the period when they could have had the last shot.
“We’ve got to be able to weather that storm a little bit better,” said Wolves guard Mike Conley, who had three points, but was a plus 14. “The adversity part has been challenging, but you’ve got to find ways to limit them from turning a one- or two-possession swing into three-, four-, five-, six possession swing when it gets out of hand.”
The Wolves are a minus-60 when Conley is off the floor, even if he isn’t filling up the stat sheet.
Alexander-Walker said the Wolves found that intensity in the fourth quarter when they chipped away at the lead, but Oklahoma City scored enough to keep the Wolves from truly threatening.
“Because they’re so disciplined in the small details, we have to match that [execution]. In the fourth quarter, we matched that, we flew around, the rotations were there,” Alexander-Walker said.
“We forced some shot clock violations. They missed the mid range shots that they were making in that first half, and I think that just boils down to matching that intensity and bringing another level like they do in the third quarter.”