Thunder vs. Timberwolves: Minnesota recovers its identity with Game 3

MINNEAPOLIS– The Minnesota Timberwolves needed more than a win. They needed something definitive and definite, they needed a suggestion as to who they are.More than

anything, they needed to make the Oklahoma City Thunder think.Advertisement The terms of

this Western Conference last series have yet to be chosen, and the home team has actually won every game. Anthony Edwards reminded everyone the Thunder are an excellent group and beating them once does not make a series.But beating them peacefully, in a manner they hadn’t suffered defeat considering that the front end of a back-to-back set with the Lakers in early April, needs to put doubt in the minds of the preferred Thunder.If nothing else, there’s now a belief in the Timberwolves locker room, due to the fact that they returned to being themselves.That’s what appeared crystal clear in the Timberwolves’143-101 thrashing of the Thunder on Saturday night, as the

Timberwolves stopped attempting to be groups that have offered Oklahoma City trouble and tossed their own”fastball, “in the words of Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch.Advertisement Or, possibly, tossing their best haymaker.And it landed.”We don’t feel psychologically disadvantaged when we march on the floor,”Finch stated.

“We just had to kind of keep finding a much better game within ourselves.

We hadn’t really

played our best basketball. Tonight we put all of it together. ” Anthony Edwards takes in the energy at Target Center throughout the Timberwolves’dominant win over the Thunder in Video Game 3 on Saturday.(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

(ASSOCIATED PRESS)They were 20 for 40 from 3-point variety after being 11 for 39 and 15 for 51 (29 percent) in Games 1 and 2, respectively. And they held Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to possibly his worst game of the season, as he scored just 14 with 6 helps and was hounded all night.That’s the formula, if there is one here– secure the ball and get excellent shots, play physical defense and offer additional attention to Gilgeous-Alexander in the half-court. Ad He will not have lots of nights

like this moving forward, but a game like this can remove the odor from the two stinkers and replenish a team’s belief in itself.” I didn’t sense any loss of self-confidence from our team”Finch said.”I picked up frustration that we had not played well, and, you know, hadn’t shot the ball well.” Alternatively, Edwards wasn’t lacking for self-confidence

— as if we might ever imagine such a thing– and it appeared to penetrate to his colleagues. He was more physical and lastly, he and his teammates hit open shots after 2 perplexing efficiencies in Oklahoma City.He took the game to Lu Dort, striking 5 3-pointers and got to the glass early as the Timberwolves led by 20 after the first quarter and were never threatened. Edwards finished with his finest conference finals game, scoring 30 with 9 rebounds and 6 assists.Advertisement”He knew that we required that type of start from our defense, and he brought it, “Finch said.”That’s what we require him to do, which’s when he does it,

it takes us to another level. I believed that’s what was truly, really big in the first quarter, he got a couple of those steals. He was all over the place.” Veteran point guard Mike Conley said during the time the Timberwolves had off in waiting for the winner of the Thunder-Denver Nuggets series, they put in two zone defenses comparable to what the Nuggets used that offered Oklahoma City problem. It led to indecision, overthinking and the Timberwolves watching out of sorts as it wasn’t their game, it was another person’s playbook.”It was brand new to us. Some guys were sluggish in rotations. But we’re more a man-to-man team,”Conley stated.”Simply do what we do better, be more locked in defensively on our man-to-man coverage and include that zone,

occasionally. “Ad “We’re not the exact same team as Denver. So it’s not apples to apples. So what works for us is us playing hard, man-to-man defense, being in gaps, being in passing lanes and being physical. So tonight, it operated in our favor.”And with that fastball, Finch tossed a curveball in there by inserting rookie Terrence Shannon Jr. for significant minutes in the second quarter, and discovered something. Shannon, the 27th choice in last year’s draft

, had minutes this season but the playing time has been inconsistent.As quickly as he entered, however, he got to the lane for ratings and hit corner 3s on his method to 15 points in 13 minutes. “He wants to get to the paint, no matter what,”Edwards stated of Shannon.”You have three people in there, he’s still gon na discover a method to get down there, which was just about having the ability to read the game form. They put three people in the paint, I’m telling them like, ‘You got toss out. ‘”Edwards explained Shannon isn’t a regular rookie. In truth, Shannon is older than Edwards, as he’ll turn 25 this summertime. It’s a wrinkle, if nothing else a professional athlete in a series that has a lot of them.Advertisement But the Timberwolves likewise have an element of power they started to

utilize in Julius Randle. It was one bad game, in Game 2 that seemed to bring out all the old rhetoric about him as he played just 10 minutes in the second half of the blowout loss.That talk, nevertheless, discount rates the outstanding play and dominant

movie he’s put out there for two complete playoff rounds, and he went right back to pounding away, throwing his shoulder into Dort and Jalen Williams.The boxscore stated Randle had 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 helps, however it all felt effective.” I believe that’s where our group has actually grown in its maturity,”

Finch stated. “I was extremely pleased with his response today. You know, he returned to doing exactly what we required him to do, which is score and play make. He only had 3 helps, but he did a really great task of setting up a lot

of things out there. “Advertisement The Thunder might extremely well be as fantastic as all the metrics declare. Winning 68 games puts them in historic area, and counting the playoffs, winning 60 games by double figures suggests they’re pretty dominant.But the Boston Celtics were dominant and so many numbers supported an easy walk to the Finals, yet something went crazy along the way. The Cleveland Cavaliers were a lot more severe in the routine season and they got exposed in the second round against the surprising Indiana Pacers.It’s not to say those teams or even Oklahoma City is fraudulent. It simply suggests in today’s NBA, there’s no such thing as a perfect group, that even the terrific ones are flawed– and if you hit them square in the jaw with your finest punch, they can buckle.Advertisement Gilgeous-Alexander was hounded by Jaden McDaniels– and the Timberwolves crowd with chants of”free-throw merchant “offered his penchant for a little chicanery in getting beneficial treatment from the officials.It was McDaniels, who shockingly received just 10 votes for the All-Defense second team( including this scribe), showing up the heat on the league’s Most Valuable Gamer and the change in protective philosophy led to a more physical brand name, and more leeway from the officials.And if that continues, the complexion of this series could turn in

an unanticipated way, because the Timberwolves have actually looked in the mirror and found themselves again.