After two two-digit defeats to start the Western Conference final, the Minnesota Timberwolves showed that they had what it takes not only to challenge, but completely closed Oklahoma City, beating the Thunder 143-101 on Saturday evening and narrowing the series at 2-1.
The Timberwolves took an advance of 34-14 in the first quarter and run away from there; In the third quarter, Minnesota had taken a 42 -point lead.
How did it happen? Minnesota pulled 57.3% of the land at 40.7% from Oklahoma City. The Timberwolves drew 50% from 3 to 31.8% of Thunder. And Anthony Edwards scored 30 points on the 14 points of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, until the two teams put their starters with an eye towards match 4 on Monday.
Thunder must again break a code
However, balance and control that Oklahoma City showed it during these qualifying series – especially in matches 1 and 2 against Minnesota – Match 3 was quite the opposite.
The Thunder Sleepwalkked in an ardent target center and an aggressive defense of the Wolves, which used a similar approach to the Nuggets – keeping the players in the boxes and the elbows and turning quickly to consolidate all the holes. Oklahoma City missed 11 of her first 15 shots from the match, turning the ball more than five times in the first six minutes. They never recovered, dragging up to 45 points in the second period and ending the evening by pulling only 35 for 86 of the field and 14 for 44 of 3.
OKC coach Mark Daigneault, desperate to find a sort of rhythm, went deep into his bench, after having already played 10 men at the start of the second quarter. But the Thunder simply could not create a separation for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Jalen Williams, who went combined 7 out of 22 on the ground. At the other end, an anthony Edwards locked up took control of the opening tip, opening the way with 30 points in 30 minutes.
Match 3 was always going to bring a level of despair of a Wolves team seeking to avoid a deficit of 3-0. The Thunder could not contain several waves of pressure from the start of the game, and will now try to correct things in match 4.
Oklahoma City must play at a faster rate in the half-habit. The Minnesota area works in overtime to put pressure on the ball managers and the passing roads, but the Thunder is not done by half moving. In match 3, the Wolves seemed to be comfortable bringing Rudy Gobert higher to meet the Oklahoma City guards, which should traditionally be an advantageous opportunity. This team is not unrelated to the box and one, the Nuggets used it periodically during the last round, and at one point, the Thunder cracked the code. They will have to start again – and do a much better work containing Edwards – to avoid a uniform series. – Kelly Iko, editor of the NBA
Minnesota launches several defenders in SGA
A change in the place made all the difference for the Timberwolves, whose victory of 143-101 match 3 against the best classified Thunder gave the final of the conference a youthful cure.
Minnesota’s victory could make a difference between overcoming a deficit of 2-0 or trying to withdraw the taxation of the playoffs: come back from Down 3-0.
The Timberwolves used a first red quart-district-hot-tail led by Anthony Edwards (16 points in opening) to give the Thunder their worst loss of the season after Oklahoma City opened the series with a convincing 2-0 series advance.
The 30 Edwards points led all the scorers while Minnesota also counted on Julius Randle (24 points) and obtained 45 points from its reserves.
Shai Gilgeous-Aalexander collected a team summit and 14 points of the season, slamming a sequence of five consecutive playoffs of 30 points. (He equaled the 1979 sequence of Gus Williams for the longest in the history of the franchise.) The nine failed SGA shots (4 of the 13 shots) were more than double his attempts to launch free (four). He has an average of 14.5 free throws in matches 1 and 2.
The Timberwolves relied on a range of defenders to grant the newly crowned MVP problems, including Terrence Shannon Jr. The Recruit wing contributed 15 points in 13:12 playing time after having totaled six points during its first six releases in the playoffs (20 minutes).
The 143 points of the Timberwolves established a record of qualifying series in a single match and inspired a new life in their hopes of operating the first final of the NBA in the history of the franchise. – James Jackson, editor -in -chief of the NBA
Wolves make perfect and subtle adjustments
We often believe that most qualifying adjustments should be large, such as the change in defensive confrontation, the modification of the range or the deployment of a new Pick-And-Roll scheme. But as Minnesota has proven in match 3, the best are often more subtle – and much more specific.
As an offense, Anthony Edwards took slightly different angles that came out of his pick-and-Rolls. Rather than rushing into a straight line to get down, as he did in Match 2, Edwards took a step on the side or even back to ensure that he was directing his own man on the screen and gave himself an additional fraction to read the rest of the Thunder’s defense. Starting widely and SO By moving to descend, Edwards kept the unbalanced Oklahoma City, was kept in balance and created more space for its tractor now an elite 3.
“He raises so much on his jump shot but it’s pure.” https://t.co/ibjdgmuwrp pic.twitter.com/rjzmvc3ry2
– NBA (@nba) May 25, 2025
In defense, Minnesota went against what many experts have publicly suggested and gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams more space on their discs. The Timberwolves had slipped far too close to the Thunder stars in the first two games, allowing Oklahoma City to cancel the length advantage of Minnesota and – as you may have heard – stacking freelancers of free throws. In match 3, Jaden McDaniels made a point of hanging a few feet from Gilgeous-Alexander, while staying on the balls of his feet to absorb the strong SGA attacks. The Bigs des Wolves – Rudy Gobert in particular – stayed at the beginning, but then moved to the ground once Gilgeous -Alexander and Williams accelerated. This change prevented Oklahoma City stars from launching the body’s contact on which they prospered in matches 1 and 2.
Now the Thunder must find a way to slip further into Edwards’s space on defense – and more in the spaces of Wolves’ defenders in attack. – Mike Prada, editor -in -chief of NBA
(Photo: Brad repel / Imagn images)
