Even when something good happens for Minnesota, it turns negative.
That’s what Mike Breen proclaimed on ESPN late in the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals. As he did, Alex Caruso egged on a euphoric Paycom Center crowd, as if they needed encouragement to cheer. The Oklahoma City Thunder built a 28-point lead over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Caruso just recorded a steal off an ill-advised pass from Donte DiVincenzo after Anthony Edwards blocked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
There were two minutes and 53 seconds left in the second quarter, but the game was over.
It was do-or-die for the Timberwolves entering Game 5, facing a 3-1 deficit. In the regular season, Minnesota’s unique but significant quirk was thriving amid adversity by getting into survival mode. They needed to tap more into that mode more than ever on Wednesday.
However, the Wolves were not a pack of ferocious beasts from the jump in Game 5.
They were deer, frozen in the headlights of defeat.
“If you’re on the battlefield, and you are worried about the outcome, you get shot in your head,” Gobert said before Game 3. “You’ve got to be worried about what’s happening in front of you.”
After dropping the first two games, the Wolves knew the importance of winning Game 3 against OKC. Still, they didn’t let the possibility of falling down 3-0 paralyze them. They remained focused on the task and tried to win each play while operating freely. That mindset helped power Minnesota to a 42-point win, its second-largest in franchise playoff history.
The Thunder overmatched the Wolves in the first two games, ending both before the fourth quarter with insurmountable third-quarter runs. However, the magnitude of Minnesota’s Game 3 win could have been the boost it needed to get back into the series.
Minnesota followed up that beatdown by committing 23 turnovers in Game 4 and allowing 19 offensive rebounds. Still, they only lost by two points. The shortcoming resulted in a 3-1 hole, but it gave the Wolves some hope entering Game 5.
If they play the way they know they can, the Wolves might have a chance against the best team in the NBA to be the 14th team in NBA history to dig out of a 3-1 hole.
However, their 124-94 Game 5 loss proved that hope was just buck fever.
“They came ready to play. We didn’t,” Anthony Edwards said in a matter-of-fact tone. “When you lose a game like this, there isn’t really too much to break down. They just did what they were supposed to do and won the game.”
The Wolves had nine points after the first quarter, composing their worst offensive start this season in a nightmare that included the team shooting 3 of 20 (15%) from the floor. The lack of shot-making wasn’t the most worrisome aspect of Minnesota’s start. Instead, it was the collective body language and the number of inexcusable errors.
Just can't make the miscommunication/sloppy turnovers against this Thunder team. The Wolves know that, but they aren't playing like they do — just committed two of them in less than a one-minute span.
Minnesota has 11 turnovers and 10 field goal makes. pic.twitter.com/UcqeU5k1VH
— Charlie Walton (@CharlieWaltonMN) May 29, 2025
After committing four turnovers in the first quarter, the Wolves tacked on ten more in the second. The Thunder forced Minnesota into some turnovers with their usually stout defense, but the Timberwolves also yielded inexcusable giveaways.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker said everything was out in the open after Game 4. The Wolves knew what they had to do – and not do – to beat OKC. But even before the series started, turnovers were at the top of the list of no-nos. It’s one thing if the Thunder earn all their steals with physical defense and air-tight isolation defense. You can live with that.
However, the Wolves compounded things with lazy, miscommunication-driven turnovers that true contending teams must have ironed out before the playoffs begin. Let alone before a win-or-go-home game in the Conference Finals.
Tack those deflating turnovers onto the Thunder shooting 22 of 44 (50%) from the floor in the first half, and the Wolves were entirely dejected. They had dismayed body language throughout the first 24 minutes. As the Wolves walked back to the locker room at halftime, they were down 33.
From the jump, the Wolves let the looming negative outcome of Game 5 swallow them whole.
“Their movement, their body movement, their connectivity, their IQ, the things that they were doing, the adjustments they were making were just a level above us,” Mike Conley said postgame regarding the Thunder. “We were just a step slow at all of those things. … They were like on one string defensively. They had a plan. They executed it. And they didn’t deviate from it.”
Edwards described OKC’s defense as 15 puppets on one string.
In Game 4, those puppets held him to 16 points on 5 of 13 shooting. Edwards didn’t think he struggled offensively, but Conley knew the Wolves needed more aggression from Ant to win Game 5. Edwards was moving with more conviction, but he finished Game 5 with 19 points on 7 of 18 from the floor and 1 of 7 from deep — never breaking through the shackles of OKC’s elite defense.
Ant got slightly trigger-happy as the game progressed, only recording two assists and firing off a few long-range shots in hopes of sparking anything. When Edwards got downhill and made reads off of OKC’s pressure, his teammates didn’t hit the open shots like they did in Game 4.
“They made it really hard for him,” Finch said postgame when looking back on Edwards’ series as a whole. “I thought for a lot of the series, he did make the right play. We preach that to him all the time. Yeah, we need him to be aggressive, for sure. He’s got to find some easier buckets. I’ve got to help him do that. We were never able to establish something consistent with him.”
Edwards scored ten of his 19 points in Game 5 in the third quarter. Julius Randle also battled many difficulties against OKC’s defense and had 13 points in the frame. The Wolves closed the third quarter on a 26-15 run, but it was too late. The damage had already been done. Oklahoma City stopped the run, and Finch waved the white flag with 6:34 left in the fourth.
The Thunder didn’t need another thunderous second-half run to end things.
“It’s not frustrating. It’s a part of the game,” said Edwards regarding OKC’s runs this series. “Like I said, once again, they’re a really good team. Everyone here knows it. It’s no surprise to anybody that this team is pretty good. They were ready. They are very prepared. Like I said before, well-coached. Top to bottom.”
OKC felt like an inevitable storm for most of the Conference Finals, even after their 42-point loss in Game 3. The Thunder proved to be the better team. And in Game 5, the Wolves were not as prepared as the Thunder. Even though Minnesota was in the Conference Finals last year and OKC wasn’t, the Timberwolves’ fate paralyzed them on Wednesday.
The Wolves were fierce and mighty while battling adversity this season, but froze in the headlights of defeat. The hole they had to claw out of was daunting, even for an alpha wolf. However, Minnesota never allowed itself to compete in Game 5, ending another proud season by staring blankly at their dismal fate.