The Oklahoma City Thunder came back down to earth after a stunning 143-101 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Through the first two games of the Western Conference Finals, it looked as though the Thunder were going to breeze through this series on their way to an appearance in the NBA Finals.
Thunder forward Chet Holmgren delivers blunt message after loss
Anthony Edwards looked like a superstar, scoring 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting while securing nine rebounds.
Julius Randle looked more like the player the Thunder saw in Game 1, scoring 24 points.
Following the blowout loss, Holmgren delivered a blunt message regarding what the Timberwolves were able to do.
“It’s not complicated — wherever they wanted to go, they got there,” said Holmgren.
Holmgren was just one of the many Thunder players who struggled. He scored 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting and didn't record a block.
MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored just 14 points on 4-of-13 shooting and went to the free-throw line just four times.
It will be interesting to see how the Thunder react. They had been coasting in the series to that point and just took Minnesota's best shot.
Fans shouldn't be concerned, however. Any team is prone to a bad night every now and again, even the league's best player. As long as those feelings don't carry over into the next game, the Thunder are still the favorites to win the series.
Still, the Thunder will have the opportunity to leave Minnesota up 3-1 and just one win away from appearing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012.