After nailing a jumper to help the Timberwolves stretch their lead to 38 points — yes, 38 points — Julius Randle delivered a message loud and clear while pointing at the hardwood beneath his feet.
“We home now!” Randle shouted at the top of his lungs. “We home now!”
The response from the 19,112 fans in attendance was deafening, like an orchestra rising to a crescendo for its conductor.
No longer did the Oklahoma City Thunder look like surefire bet to reach the NBA Finals. All of a sudden the Timberwolves felt like they had some life.
“The crowd had me going,” Randle said. “It gave me a lot of juice. I just wanted to feed off of that energy. I was just having fun out there.”
Let’s just say the vibes were immaculate on Saturday night at Target Center as the Timberwolves rolled to a 143-101 win over the Thunder.
After falling behind 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals and looking vastly overmatched in the process, the Timberwolves finally punched back, putting together a flurry that staggered the Thunder for perhaps the first time in the series.
As he reflected on the performance from his players, Chris Finch credited them for having the right approach, which is something the Timberwolves have struggled with against the Thunder to this point.
“We wanted to be the aggressor in everything,” Finch said. “We felt most of the series we’ve been on our heels.”
The catalyst was none other than Anthony Edwards.
He set the tone for the Timberwolves with 16 points the opening frame, outscoring the Thunder all by himself, and looking every bit of the superstar that he is. He finished with 30 points to lead all scorers while playing with a tenacity on both ends of the floor that proved to be infectious.
Some other key contributors for the Timberwolves included Randle, who responded the right way after getting benched the last time out, Jaden McDaniels, who locked up defensively like he always does, and Terrence Shannon Jr., who was a pleasant surprise that provided a spark off the bench.
There was also signs of life from Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo, both of whom look like they might slowly but surely be busting out of their shooting slumps.
All of it added up to the Timberwolves dominating the Thunder from start to finish. Not that the final score is worth reading into.
“It doesn’t matter what the margin of victory is,” Finch said. “They still have a 2-1 series lead.”
That was the message from the Timberwolves in the immediate aftermath and that’s exactly how they should be approaching the next 48 hours. As impressive as the effort was in Game 3, they need to bring a similar intensity in Game 4.
They can’t be satisfied. There’s still work to be done.
That wasn’t lost on the players in the Timberwolves locker room.
“We’re still down,” Edwards said. “They’re the best team in the NBA. We’ve got to be able to beat this team more than once. It’s going to be tough.”
Tough? Yes. Impossible? No.
That much the Timberwolves have now proven to themselves.
The heavyweight bout is back on and they are very much in the fight.
“We haven’t done anything,” Randle said. “We got to go and do it again and play even better and play even harder because we know they’re going to bring it.”
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