After a Game 2 drubbing in which they were out-physicaled and thoroughly out-played in a loss that put them behind 2-0 in the series, players couldn’t help but hint at some frustration toward the other team’s defensive aggression.

“They’re hacking.”

No, those exact words weren’t spoken by any Timberwolves player or coach Chris Finch following Minnesota’s loss to Oklahoma City on Thursday.

That was Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon in the aftermath of Minnesota’s 106-80 victory in Game 2 of the 2024 Western Conference semifinals.

It was a night in which the Nuggets became consumed by their frustration with the officiating and what they felt the Wolves defense was getting away with. Then Denver coach Michael Malone went nose to nose in a yelling match with referee Marc Davis. Jamal Murray threw a heat pack onto the court. The Nuggets came unglued.

Murray left the locker room without speaking to reporters that evening, much like Anthony Edwards did Thursday in Oklahoma City.

Suddenly, the defending champs were heading to Minneapolis with the possibility of getting swept out of the playoffs squarely in play. Frankly, that was the assumed result at that point. The Nuggets were getting punked. It was a realization Gordon seemed to strike by the end of his post-Game 2 comments.

“I feel like we’re getting pushed off our spots; they were grabbing and holding, and we were looking for the officials,” he said. “We weren’t doing anything about it.”

Rather than praying for a life preserver from the referees, Denver decided to fight back. The Nuggets upped their physicality to match and even exceed Minnesota’s. Denver committed 25 fouls in a Game 3 trouncing of the Timberwolves as they bogged down Minnesota’s offense with its tenacity at Target Center.

The Nuggets won three straight games to take a series lead before eventually running out of gas and falling to the Wolves in seven games.

But at least the champs went out on their swords.

Minnesota finds itself on the other side of the coin versus the position it was in a year ago. The Wolves are now down 2-0 after consecutive blowout losses at the hands of Oklahoma City. They’re the ones who feel as though their opponent is getting too loose of a defensive whistle.

“I mean, they’re just handsy, man,” Wolves forward Julius Randle said Thursday. “There’s a lot of swipes, all that different type of stuff.”

“They’re very handsy, and there’s a lot of things that are not going to get called,” Wolves center Rudy Gobert said between Games 1 and 2. “They are relentless. We knew that. We know that they’re grabbing, fouling, but we know that we’re not going to get all those calls.”

Waiting for the whistles isn’t a winning strategy. Oklahoma City has been the aggressor through two games. If that doesn’t change in the Twin Cities, these West Finals will be over sooner than later.

For the better part of the past two seasons, Minnesota has been the big, fast, strong team that wears opponents down with its physicality and tenacity. But through two games, the Wolves have met their match in Oklahoma City. And rather than the matchup producing a high-stakes showdown of two teams out for blood, the Wolves have too frequently cowered into the corner.

They would likely maintain that they haven’t been allowed to play a physical brand of defense because of the whistle afforded to newly-crowned MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. But the reality is those at times questionable foul calls aren’t coming on plays where Minnesota is out harassing the Thunder’s star guard on the perimeter.

Because that scenario has not played out.

Gilgeous-Alexander is getting where he wants to go on the floor and bringing the contact to Minnesota’s defenders.

As is often the case in basketball, to the aggressor goes the call.

Throughout his tenure, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch has frequently mentioned the need for his team to maintain a “hit-first mentality” on the court. In this series, it’s looked more like, “Get hit, and immediately look at the official.”

That’s a great formula if your goal is to go on vacation. That’s simply not who Minnesota has been for the past few years.

It’s why it’s difficult to imagine the Wolves going out this tamely. But that’s what will happen if change isn’t made ahead of Saturday’s Game 3 at Target Center.

They need to be the ones setting the tone. They need to be physical, to deliver the hits, to dictate the terms of the game.

They need to be themselves.

Or, more apt to this situation, they need to be last year’s Nuggets. They have two options: Show some championship-caliber fight, or risk finding themselves watching the Thunder hoist a trophy on the Target Center floor, much like they did with Dallas in this very round last season.

“It will be a huge disappointment,” Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said, “if we don’t bring that competitiveness to try to win.”

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Today is Friday, May 23, the 143rd day of 2025. There are 222 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On May 23, 1934, bank robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were shot to death during a police ambush in Bienville Parish, Louisiana.

Also on this date:

In 1915, Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary, aligning with the Triple Entente of Russia, France and the United Kingdom.

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In 1945, Nazi official Heinrich Himmler killed himself while in British custody in Lüneburg, Germany.

In 1984, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued a report saying there was “very solid” evidence linking cigarette smoke to lung disease in non-smokers.

In 2013, the Boy Scouts of America announced it would remove membership restrictions based on sexual orientation, while maintaining a ban on openly gay Scout leaders. (The ban on gay Scout leaders and organization employees was lifted two years later.)

In 2015, supporters of marriage equality in Ireland celebrated as referendum results showed a constitutional amendment in favor of recognizing same-sex marriage passing by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

In 2018, NFL owners approved a new policy allowing players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room but forbidding players from sitting or taking a knee if they’re on the field.

In 2021, a cable car taking visitors to a mountaintop view of northern Italy’s Lake Maggiore plummeted to the ground when a cable snapped, killing 14 people.

Today’s Birthdays:

Actor Joan Collins is 92.
Tennis Hall of Famer John Newcombe is 81.
Chess grand master Anatoly Karpov is 74.
Comedian-TV host Drew Carey is 67.
Comedian-actor Lea DeLaria is 67.
Author Mitch Albom is 67.
Actor Melissa McBride is 60.
Singer-songwriter Maxwell is 52.
“Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings is 51.
Singer-songwriter Jewel is 51.
Filmmaker Ryan Coogler is 39.
Singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz (juh-ROHZ’) is 34.

A female teacher at East Ridge High School in Woodbury was placed on administrative leave Thursday after she reportedly repeatedly used a racial slur while talking with students, officials said.

The teacher was “immediately walked out of the building” after students reported the staff member had used the slur, said Shawn Hogendorf, a spokesman for South Washington County Schools.

The teacher, who was not identified, was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, he said.

In a letter sent to families, Principal Jim Smokrovich wrote that he received a report Thursday morning that the staff member used a racial slur “while discussing inappropriate comments a student was making toward other students.”

The staff member “repeated the racial slur multiple times during the conversation,” Smokrovich wrote.

“As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we met with the students who reported what they heard the staff member say, and connected with their families,” he wrote. “Understandably, the students were upset by the use of the racial slur. We are grateful to the students who were brave enough to bring this forward and to support our East Ridge values.”

Staff are available to meet with students if they are “in need of additional support to process this incident,” he wrote.

East Ridge “does not tolerate derogatory, discriminatory or racist language,” he wrote. “As educators, we must be held to the highest possible standard. I offer my sincere apology for the actions that took place in our school.”

Officials in the school district last fall banned a substitute teacher from its classrooms after he allegedly reenacted George Floyd’s murder during classes at Woodbury High School.

Meanwhile, the South Washington County school board on Thursday night voted 5-2 to update the district’s racial equity and inclusion policy to remove duplications and clarify definitions and language. Board members Ryan Clarke and Eric Tessner dissented.

The rewritten policy states that district administrators will “condemn hate speech and expressions of racism, xenophobia, discrimination and ethnic or racial intolerance.”

Hate speech is defined in the policy as speech that either disparages, demeans, targets, “threatens or harasses a person or group based on protected class status.”

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Oklahoma City — At the start of this season, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch asked his team whether it was a Western Conference Finals team a year ago, or if it was simply a team that reached the Western Conference Finals.

A similarly pertinent question could be asked of Minnesota through two games of this year’s conference title round: Are the Timberwolves a title contender, or merely one of the last four teams still playing?

Right now, Minnesota looks a lot like the latter.

The Wolves were thoroughly out-played again Thursday in Game 2, getting their doors blown off in the third quarter en route to a 118-103 loss in Oklahoma City. Minnesota now trails the best of 7 series 2-0, with Game 3 at Target Center on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander received the MVP trophy on the floor ahead of the game, and proceeded to show everyone why he received the honor in the 48 minutes that followed. The superstar guard scored 38 points to go with eight assists. His wingman, Jalen Williams, tacked on 26 points.

Still, Minnesota was down just three late in the first half thanks to some hot 3-point shooting out of the gates. But that’s where the wheels began to fall off.

Oklahoma City closed the frame on a 5-0 run to take an eight-point advantage into the break. Then the floodgates opened in the third. The Thunder scored 35 points in the third quarter, including a 25-6 run that put the game out of question.

Minnesota was down 22 at the end of the frame.

The Timberwolves played two quarters of good offense, but at this point, it looks as though perfection may be required to contend in this series with the 68-win Thunder.

They’ll have another chance Saturday to produce just that, or at least something close to it, in what now looks like a must-win game back in Minneapolis.