NBA: “We are now at home”: The night Minnesota has silenced the thunder

At least now we know so much: The final -4 of the West Nacht -Finals 4 will be a real playoff gameThe way that offers. Because what we saw in game 3 requires questions – was it an outlier or the beginning of something sustainable, even if not quite as grotesque? If a game stumbles, the next has to explain it. Was that a coincidence? Was that real? What happened on the 1,300 kilometer journey from Oklahoma to Minnesota?

The Timberwolves destroyed Thunder 143-101 and converted the desperate energy of a team 0: 2 into a feeling of the blazing resurrection. And now we wonder. Each team that makes a conference final is very good by definition. But the wolves were not only good – They were flawless. This version may be difficult to repeat, but there is a large selection between a narrow +1 victory and a +42 demolition, in which Minnesota still has the feeling of being at OKC's level. The thunder, on the other hand, was not recognizable. Was it a bad night after three excellent (one against Denver, two against the wolves), a stumbling that was born by a 2-0 lead too easily earned? Or have the wolves finally arrived and ready to increase the temperature in a series that felt inclined before the event location changed?

The Old Playoff saying keeps: A series doesn't really start when someone wins on the go. Just ask someone in the east.

Only fifteen teams in NBA history have achieved at least 79 victories in regular season and playoffs (exceeded by the 88-grade Warriors 2015–16 who did not win the title). The thunder remains at 78 (68 regular season + 10 night season), a number that speaks for how consistent they were – why the reason Your collapse in game 3 was so shocking. The amount of Target Center started the night form (after 0: 4) and ended electricity. He fed Julius Randle's energy when he roared the fans to fans in the third quarter: “We are now at home!” Despite her 78 victories, the thunder was run off the square, a competitive team was completely unpool. No NBA champion has ever won the title after a playoff loss of 40 points. On the other hand, there were exceptions in the modern era of three and swings: the 2021 dollars and 2022 Warriors both had a -39 macelaries on their way.

The wolves stormed back from this opening from 0 to 4 (34-10 in the last 10:43 of the first quarter) and drove from there (38-27 in the second). At halftime it was 72-41 The biggest half -time lead in the history of the WestfinaleAnd the wolves of the highest half in a playoff game. You would break your record after the season after the season and give a number one seed to the most secondary striking in the NBA Playoff story. Yes, Minnesota in top form is terrifying. And yes, OKC is entitled to a bad night. But that wasn't just a blowout – it was everything. A complete, overwhelming reversal of the rhythm, rebound, points of the second chance, control of the color-aspect of the game turned.

Chris Finch made the greatest adjustment and it worked. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, dominant in OKC (34.5 points, 14.5 free throws per game), was reduced to just 14 points Lowest edition of the season – and only four trips to the line. He had four sales in the first half alone, more than his total in the first two games. After the break, Mark Daignault Hartenstein used Joe Joe, and for a second it looked promising-a 2-11 burst set the gap to 22. But the wolves countered with a 23-4 run to stretch it again on +41. The tour reached its climax at 45 and Daignult waved the white flag before the third quarter ended.

Minnesota was sitting deeper on Shai, daring to shoot him out of range, and grabbed the lane to block the drives. They forced OKC to shoot from the outside, and the results were day and night: Wolves reached 20 out of 40while thunder ended 14 out of 44. At one point they were 10 out of 31 and 22 out of 60. In the meantime, the wolves only had eight sales and shot over 50% of Deep (16-of-31). The team, which had dominated rebound and pace in the first two games, was thoroughly exceeded. If OKC has a weakness, it is your three -point stability. Your playoff average of 32.4% occupies the 13th place of 16 post -season teams. But so far, her elite defense and surgical execution about this crack had pulled over paper – the same that she cost her against Dallas a year ago. Can Minnesota keep attacking this error?

Everything felt different. Maybe it was just The jerk of a home amountOr maybe it's a shift in the series. Anthony Edwards finally looked like the franchise player, which he is-16 points in the first quarter (more than the entire Thunder team with 14) and ended with 30 shootings with 30 shootings, 9 rebounds and 6 assists. Julius Randle added 24 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists and looked back on the middle range and fatal.

The Naz Reid, Donte Divincenzo and Nickeil Alexander Walker met all threes at their first touches, and Rookie Terrence Shannon JR, who had his first real playoff minutes with 24 played-up 15 with a striking physical outbreak. When he entered Finch in the second quarter, he scored nine points in three minutes. At that time he had exceeded every player in the thunder. This one status says everything – How massive the blowout was, how brilliant the wolves were and how alarming okcs collapsed.

Was it a damn night or a sign of what will come? We will find out in game 4. For now we have at least something that we don't have before: real, burning questions. The Westfinale is suddenly very lively.

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Oklahoma City Thunder

statistics

7 Chet Holmgren
8 Jalen Williams
55 Isaiah Hartenstein
5 Luguentz there
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
9 Alex Caruso
13 Ousmane Dieng
11 Isaiah Joe
3 Dillon Jones
25 Ajay Mitchell
22 Cason Wallace
21 Aaron Wiggins
6 Jaylin Williams
34 Kenrich Williams

statistics

	Min	PTS	TR	OR	Dr.	Branch	Off	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	See	Val
7 Chet Holmgren	20	10	5	1	4	2	0	1	0	3/3	2/3	1/4	0	1	0
8 Jalen Williams	24	13	4	0	4	2	4	0	0	5/6	1/4	2/5	0	2	0
55 Isaiah Hartenstein	19	6	6	0	6	0	0	0	1	0/1	3/6	0/0	0	0	0
5 Luguentz there	21	6	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0/0	0/0	2/4	0	3	0
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	27	14	2	0	2	6	4	0	1	4/4	2/8	2/5	0	2	0
9 Alex Caruso	9	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/2	1/3	0	2	0
13 Ousmane Dieng	6	6	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	2/2	0	0	0
11 Isaiah Joe	17	2	3	0	3	0	0	1	1	0/0	1/2	0/5	0	0	0
3 Dillon Jones	9	10	3	2	1	1	0	1	0	0/0	2/3	2/2	0	1	0
25 Ajay Mitchell	18	14	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1/1	5/7	1/4	0	2	0
22 Cason Wallace	15	2	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	2/2	0/0	0/0	0	1	0
21 Aaron Wiggins	16	5	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0/0	1/2	1/3	0	2	0
6 Jaylin Williams	17	2	5	1	4	3	2	1	0	2/2	0/0	0/6	0	3	0
34 Kenrich Williams	14	8	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0/0	4/5	0/1	0	1	0