The Oklahoma City Thunder had all the momentum heading into Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday, but ended up getting blown out 143-101 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was a stunning defeat, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander kept it real postgame.
“It just happens, you’re never going to be perfect in life, in a long season,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “You get punched, it’s about getting back up, it’s about responding, and that’s what the next challenge is. We got punched in the mouth today, and next game we’re either gonna get back up or not, and we’ll lose a game, but we have a decision to make, for sure.”
You got the feeling this wasn’t the Thunder’s night fairly early on. They were down 25-9 at one point in the first quarter, and the deficit was 20 at the end of the period.
Any hopes of a comeback were then doused in the second quarter, as the Timberwolves led 72-41 at halftime. The lead would eventually balloon to as many as 45 minutes, and this was just a complete shellacking.
The Timberwolves were slicing and dicing that vaunted Thunder defense, and it was going to take an exceptional offensive showing to keep up with them. Unfortunately, the visitors struggled on that end of the floor, and the MVP wasn’t able to inspire the team for once.
Gilgeous-Alexander had just 14 points (4-13 FG), two rebounds, six assists, and one block in Game 3. The 26-year-old connected on his first shot in the first quarter but then went scoreless the rest of the way as the Timberwolves seized control.
Gilgeous-Alexander had averaged 34.5 points in the opening two games to help the Thunder get a 2-0 lead over the Timberwolves. They’re going to need that kind of production out of him moving forward as well if they are to win this series, and you would expect him to bounce back in Game 4.
Getting back to this loss, while it was unexpected, we had seen this from the Thunder earlier in the playoffs. They were getting blown out by the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 3 in the first round after taking a 2-0 but were able to come back and win after Ja Morant went down with an injury. They didn’t get a break this time around.
“The same thing kind of happened in the Memphis series,” Gilgeous-Alexander stated. “We came out in Memphis, and they blitzed us. I’m not sure, I guess both situations we were up 2-0 going into Game 3, and we went on the road and they blitzed us. We don’t try to go out like that, I promise you, but whatever it is, we got to figure out if we want to reach our ultimate goals.”
Did the Thunder just subconsciously ease up a bit thanks to the position they were in? Well, only they know that for sure.
Whether the case may be, instead of stepping on the Timberwolves’ throats and taking an almost unassailable lead, the Thunder have now given their opponents life. They are still up 2-1 but need to ensure this game doesn’t end up being the turning point in this series. Game 4 will be at the Target Center on Monday at 8:30 PM ET.
