Playoff basketball isn’t for the faint of heart.
In many cases, it’s a platform where players and coaches can tighten up and let the moment overcome the task at hand.
Nobody envied the Minnesota Timberwolves as they faced a 2-0 hole against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Saturday night, Minnesota head coach Chris Finch made adjustments and used some unconventional thinking to help get the Wolves back in the series.
Outside of some spot minutes that mostly came in garbage time throughout the first two rounds, rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. hasn’t been part of the equation for Minnesota this postseason.
It’s not surprising, given where Shannon was drafted and that he only appeared in 32 regular-season games for the Wolves. Early on, the adjustment of being a later pick in the draft to the NBA can consist of just trying to fight for playing time.
In Game 3 against the Thunder, Finch turned to Shannon with Minnesota’s back against the wall, and the rookie more than delivered.
The Wolves led 34-14 after the first quarter on Saturday. Still, ask any Minnesota sports fan, and you’ll hear the same answer about no lead for any of its sports teams being a safe lead.
Shannon Jr. entered the contest at the start of the second quarter, a pivotal point in the game.
Would the Thunder wake up from a slow start and get back into the game, or would the Wolves keep their foot on the gas?
Shannon Jr. put that question to rest by bursting out of the gates with five points in the first 44 seconds of the second quarter to expand Minnesota’s lead to 25. He’d add four more points in a 20-second stretch a few minutes later to put the Wolves up 26.
The rookie out of Illinois finished with 15 points in 13 minutes and helped suck any life out of an Oklahoma City comeback.
It took guts from Finch to think differently in what might as well have been deemed a “must-win” for Minnesota. Not only would few coaches pull the card out that Finch did, but even fewer would do it in the playoffs.
Talking with reporters after the win, Finch said it was the plan all along.
We needed some physicality out there. Just kind of a different type of player than we have in other positions. So we kind of knew coming into the game that we were gonna get to him. I think that’s what we’re gonna do.
Finch noted that they plan on using Shannon more before talking about what he brought to the table.
It was awesome, came in, I’ve been wrestling with getting another guy in the rotation. We played Jalen a little bit the other day. I just thought a guy who could stretch a floor in transition, a downhill player, got a good body, physicality.
Plugging Shannon into the lineup wasn’t the only adjustment Minnesota made, and with a 2-0 hole staring the Wolves in the eyes, they must explore other avenues.
Minnesota didn’t allow Oklahoma City to get downhill towards the basket nearly as much on Saturday compared to the first two games of the series. In addition, the Wolves have been sprinkling in some zone defense that the Denver Nuggets used effectively in their series against the Thunder last round.
All of it paid off.
Of course, Minnesota’s adjustments will lead Oklahoma City to reevaluate and make its own adjustments for Game 4. Thus continues the ongoing chess match of a best-of-7 playoff series in the NBA.
The Wolves deserve plenty of credit for executing the blueprint, but Finch deserves just as much for pressing the right buttons. Hesitating to do anything too drastic in the playoffs can backfire and lead to even more questions and doubt.
Finch ignored all that and still did what he’d thought would work in Game 3, which consisted of a heavy dosage of Shannon. Had it not worked out, there would’ve been some head scratching from the fan base. Instead, Finch gets some well-deserved praise.
The job is far from finished, and Minnesota still has a steep task.
Oklahoma City is the top seed for a reason, and it flexed its muscles in the first two games of this series. None of the three games in the series have been close.
Monday will present another big spot for the Wolves in a series-altering game to tie it up or face the harsh reality of being down 3-1.
Finch knows they have to try to repeat what they did Saturday.
We don’t feel psychologically disadvantaged when we step out on the floor. … So we just had to keep finding a better game within ourselves. We hadn’t really played our best basketball, all credit to them at times, for affecting that. I think we just were able to put it all together, and gotta do it again.
Minnesota was able to make it a series in Game 3. Now it’ll have to scratch out another win to make things interesting. Finch’s willingness to think outside the framework of the norm will always give the Wolves a chance.