Minnesota Timberwolves middle Naz Reid, left, guard Mike Conley, middle, and guard Anthony Edwards react after a basket in opposition to the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder throughout the second half of Recreation 1 of an NBA basketball Western Convention Finals playoff collection Tuesday, Could 20, 2025, in Oklahoma Metropolis. (AP Picture/Nate Billings)
OKLAHOMA CITY — Minnesota hadn’t performed in almost every week and Oklahoma Metropolis had simply performed in a Recreation 7 two days earlier.
It was the Timberwolves who lacked vitality because the Thunder rolled to a 114-88 victory in Recreation 1 of the NBA Western Convention finals on Tuesday night time.
READ: NBA: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder beat Wolves in West finals opener
Minnesota coach Chris Finch stated his crew was only a bit off.
“There have been a number of good pictures on the market,” he stated. “I believe we’ve obtained to wash issues up a little bit bit. You understand, typically the passes had been late, typically we weren’t fairly shot prepared. Generally we have to flip to different performs, . However I did assume that we obtained quite a few actually beauty.”
Julius Randle scored 20 factors within the first half to assist the Timberwolves take a 48-44 lead, however Oklahoma Metropolis shot 61.9% from the sector after the break whereas Minnesota shot simply 35%.
Randle scored simply eight factors within the second half and solely took 5 pictures.
“Whether or not there’s misses or makes, we’ve nonetheless obtained to defend at a excessive degree,” Randle stated. “And I believe that was in all probability the distinction within the second half.”
READ: NBA: Thunder, Wolves meet once more and this time for journey to finals
Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, who had averaged 26.5 factors per sport within the playoffs, scored 18 on 5-for-13 taking pictures. No different Minnesota gamers scored in double figures.
Edwards by no means delivered certainly one of his highlight-reel dunks as Oklahoma Metropolis packed the paint. The Timberwolves made simply 15 of 51 3-pointers.
“It’s form of onerous to get to the paint actually,” Edwards stated. “I imply, regardless, that’s my sport. However they undoubtedly took that side of my sport away tonight from getting downhill. So good job to these guys.”
Minnesota middle Rudy Gobert was a nonfactor. He dedicated two fast fouls and completed with two factors and three rebounds in 21 minutes. Finch stated he took the 7-foot-1 Gobert out and went with a smaller lineup to see if he might shake issues up.
READ: NBA: Thunder-Timberwolves West finals collection preview
In the meantime, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 20 of his 31 factors within the second half to assist Oklahoma Metropolis outscore the Timberwolves 70-40.
Minnesota’s sluggishness confirmed in the way it defended Gilgeous-Alexander. The MVP finalist and scoring champion made 11 of 14 free throws and performed a job in Jaden McDaniels fouling out in simply 24 minutes of motion.
In two examples of Minnesota’s psychological state, Edwards drew a technical early within the sport for throwing the ball at Gilgeous-Alexander and later picked up one other foul for shoving Gilgeous-Alexander within the chest.
“There was a number of frustration on the market, however we’ve obtained to — we all know we talked about that earlier than the collection began,” Finch stated. “And we’ve to have the ability to form of put that apart and get on with the following play.”
