Oklahoma City — For the first two rounds of these playoffs — and, really, the six-plus weeks leading up to them — Minnesota had consistently been the bigger, faster, stronger team on the floor.
That was certainly not the case on Tuesday evening in Oklahoma City.
The Thunder were more physical in every respect in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals, taking it to Minnesota from the opening quarter en route to a 114-88 victory to take a 1-0 series lead.
Game 2 is at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday back in Oklahoma City.
Minnesota survived on 3-point shooting to keep its nose in front in the first half. The Wolves jumped out to an 8-0 lead and led 48-40 late in the second quarter. But its formula of outside shot making simply was not as reliable as Oklahoma City’s relentless defensive pressure and offensive attacking.
The Thunder imposed their will. They prevented Minnesota from getting much outside of 3-point shots and, on the other end, lived in the paint. Minnesota was unable to contain the ball.
That’s a losing formula.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled from the field in the first half, the presumptive MVP cranked it up in the second half, scoring 20 of his 31 points over the final two frames. His sidekick, Jalen Williams, scored 19 points to go with five steals. Chet Holmgren recovered from a rough first half to serve as an interior offensive force.
Julius Randle was a force for Minnesota offensively. He rained down triples in the first half, and was aggressive getting to the bucket in the fourth to finish with 28 points. but no one joined him. Anthony Edwards was a bystander in the second half, and the Timberwolves’ bench players of Donte DiVincenzo, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz played rhythm-less basketball, looking out of sorts throughout the game.
The Timberwolves turned the ball over 19 times, which led to 31 Oklahoma City points.
Minnesota hasn’t looked that ineffective since Game 1 of its last series, in which it got beat by Golden State. That game also came off a lengthy layoff. The Timberwolves recovered from that debacle just fine. But the Warriors also had to play the remainder of that series sans its best player. That won’t be the case in these West Finals.
So Minnesota will need to find real answers. What those are remains to be seen.
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