Jalen Williams tried to toss a soft pass to Isaiah Hartenstein, only to have Rudy Gobert swat it away to create an Anthony Edwards’ transition opportunity the other way early in Game 3 on Saturday at Target Center.
What a sign that was of things to come.
Three minutes later, Lu Dort came off a ball screen from Jalen Williams. Anthony Edwards, who was guarding Williams at the play’s outset, shot off Williams and knocked the ball away from Dort. The Thunder guard went flying to the floor and Edwards went coasting the other way for an easy slam.
With three minutes to play in the opening quarter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came off a ball screen from Chet Holmgren. Rather than retreating backwards on the play, as he’d done for much of the first two games of the series, Rudy Gobert moved up the floor to apply pressure to the league MVP. As Gilgeous-Alexander picked up the ball to attempt a pass, Gobert knocked it away, picked it up and went down the floor in transition.
Minnesota’s high-pressure defense made Oklahoma City’s life hell in the Wolves’ dominant win on Saturday. It was eerily reminiscent of the way the Wolves defended against Phoenix and Denver in last year’s playoffs, and a stark contrast to how Minnesota played on that end through the first two games of this series.
“We wanted to be the aggressor in everything, absolutely,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “Guys knew what type of defense we could play. We don’t feel we’ve been playing it. We felt most of the series we’ve been on our heels defensively.”
Indeed. Oklahoma City got to go wherever it wanted offensively over the first two games. It piled up paint points and never appeared to experience an ounce of stress while doing so.
There was nothing to fear about the Timberwolves’ suddenly tame defense. Some correlated the lack of tenacity to foul trouble, but the majority of Minnesota’s fouls in Oklahoma City came when the Wolves were in retreat mode. Minnesota was downright tentative while repeatedly getting punched in the face by the conference’s top seed.
That needed to change if Minnesota was to correct course and challenge Oklahoma City in this series. The change occurred in Game 3. Yes, the Timberwolves simply brought a better energy level and enthusiasm to the defensive side of the ball. But a scheme shift aided in the efforts.
Minnesota started to switch pick and rolls in the game, and extended its defense much further up the floor. No longer were the Wolves surrendering so much prime real estate to the Thunder offense.
The result for Minnesota was a reversion to its harassing, hit-first defense.
“Be more assertive and just let our physicality dictate who we are,” Wolves guard Mike Conley said. “They’re a physical team, and we’ve got to be just as physical if we want to have a chance to win. We understood that and kind of showed that tonight.”
Asked about the change of strategy with the defensive schemes, Finch said “sometimes you just got to throw your fastball.”
“We were trying to do too much other junk out there at times,” Finch said.
Specifically, a pair of zone defenses that were dead on deployment. Conley noted the Wolves watched Denver’s defense give Oklahoma City consistent issues in the Western Conference semifinals. The Nuggets did so often with zone looks. In response, Minnesota attempted to add in a pair of zone looks.
But Conley said Minnesota hadn’t used either in a game all season, and it showed. The Wolves looked hesitant and unsure of themselves when deploying the looks. That’s a great way to get beat.
“We’re not the same team Denver is, so sometimes it’s not just apples to apples in a sense,” Conley said. “Guys were kind of slow in rotations as we were trying to do it right, but we’re more of a man to man team, a physical team.”
Being physical, aggressive and in your face is Minnesota’s “fast ball.” Any defensive plan that allows the Wolves to use their length and athleticism gives them a great chance to win games, as proven by Saturday’s performance. Oklahoma City turned the ball over 15 times while shooting just 41% from the field and scoring just 42 points in the paint. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander never looked comfortable at any point in the evening.
With its aggression, Minnesota kept the Thunder out of their comfort zones and was able to dictate the terms under which the game was played.
“I thought we did a really good job of setting that line of scrimmage in our favor,” Conley said.
Switching and playing up in coverage effectively serves as a challenge for guys to defend the man in front of them. Minnesota’s defenders love to rise to the occasion. The aggressive defensive scheme seemed to get the best out of the Wolves, as has often been the case in recent years, and was again in Game 3.
“Our competitiveness was at an all-time high,” Finch said.
The Wolves were big, fast and strong. That’s a combination that’s long proven difficult to down.
Don’t think, just guard.
“This team tonight is who we want to be going forward. Nobody on this team is afraid, nobody backs down, nobody is bigger than the team. That’s kind of who we’ve been defensively,” Conley said. “I think we’ve just got to continue that mindset going forward, and understand that we’re going to stay confident going through it.”