MINNEAPOLIS — It had to be this way.
A narrow victory at home was not going to be enough. A gritty, resourceful, skin-of-their-teeth kind of win for the Minnesota Timberwolves would have been nice and all, but it would not have been enough to really send a ripple through these Western Conference finals.
What the Timberwolves did to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 Saturday night is what needed to happen for this series to even begin to feel different. It was a tidal wave of performances from Anthony Edwards, Julius Randle and, most surprisingly, seldom-used Terrence Shannon Jr., a wrinkle from coach Chris Finch that at the very least brings some hope that they have unlocked a new way to attack this juggernaut.
Nothing worked in two games in Oklahoma City. Everything worked in the first game in Minnesota, a 143-101 wipeout that not only put the Wolves on the board in this series but also showed what this team can do when it’s locked in. It showed that the Thunder are not out of Wolves’ league. More importantly, it showed the Wolves the way forward.
“Honestly, it just shows us, more than anything, of what we’re capable of doing,” guard Mike Conley said. “Now we’ve set a standard for ourselves, like, why aren’t we playing with this type of effort every night? So, if we don’t do it the next game, that’s on us. It has nothing to do with them.”
The Thunder won the two games in Oklahoma City by an average of 20.5 points, but the Timberwolves told themselves that both games came down to some disastrous third quarters, resulting in the games getting out of hand. Until Saturday night, it was impossible to tell if the Wolves truly believed what they were saying, or if they had just reached the bargaining stage of grief.
They limped home from Oklahoma City down 2-0, unable to hit shots against the Thunder’s swarming perimeter defense, frustrated by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s scoring prowess and theatrics and confused about what to do defensively against a multifaceted Thunder attack. Oklahoma City had the best point differential in league history during the regular season and very much looked the part in a dominant start to the series.
Minnesota had played seven games in the conference finals of the last two years. In the eighth game on Saturday, the Wolves finally looked like they belonged.
Anthony Edwards scored 16 of his 30 points in a ferocious, tone-setting first quarter. Julius Randle bounced back from his first clunker of the playoffs with 24 points in 30 minutes. Jaden McDaniels hounded Gilgeous-Alexander into 4-for-13 shooting, and Naz Reid (10 points, 2-for-3 from 3, eight rebounds) and Donte DiVincenzo (2-for-2 on 3s) both hit the open jumpers they missed in the first two games to break the door open.
The Wolves shot 57.3 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3 (a scorching 20-for-40) and only turned the ball over eight times in the three quarters that mattered. They also held the Thunder to 36.7 percent shooting (32.3 percent from 3) and scored 16 points off 13 turnovers to take a 37-point lead after three quarters, rendering the final 12 minutes meaningless.
One could look at those numbers and merely shrug. It is unlikely the Wolves will shoot that well from 3 again in the series and even less likely that Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning league MVP who has torched the Wolves all season long, will be that ineffective again.
But the Wolves can point to some real strategic adjustments that can give them hope that Game 3 was not just the latest entry in the “It’s a Make-or-Miss League Diaries.” More clear-eyed defense, Shannon’s introduction and better offensive flow all contributed to their success on Saturday, and all can be replicated going forward.
“We just had to keep finding a better game within ourselves,” Finch said. “We hadn’t really played our best basketball, all credit to them at times, for affecting that. I think we just were able to put it all together, and (we’ve) gotta do it again.”
Defensive paralysis
As the Timberwolves prepared to face the Thunder, the coaching staff and players watched film of every game of Oklahoma City’s seven-game semifinals series against the Denver Nuggets. They wanted to figure out what the undermanned Nuggets did to take a 68-win team the distance. They saw how much Denver’s zone seemed to befuddle Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder offense.
Before Game 1, Finch admitted that these Wolves have not played much zone this season because this group has not been as proficient at it as last year’s team. Nevertheless, Finch and defensive coordinator Elston Turner added in two new zone schemes to try to mimic some of Denver’s success.
“We hadn’t played those zones before, technically, all year, so it was brand new to us.” Conley said. “Guys were kind of slow in rotations as we were trying to do it right, but we’re more of a man-to-man team, a physical team.”
Essentially, the Wolves had a brain freeze when they went zone in the first two games. Alex Caruso would cut into the middle, grab an entry pass and score an easy bunny. Or, the Thunder would swing the ball around the perimeter and get a wide-open 3 for Lu Dort or Jalen Williams.
The Wolves may have overthought things, understandable when facing an opponent as daunting as the Thunder.
“I think sometimes, you’ve just got to throw your fastball,” Finch said. “And we were trying to do too much other junk out there at times.”
Minnesota simplified things defensively for Game 3 in an effort to get back to the physical, hit-first team that has been their calling card. Edwards drove the bus, getting two steals for dunks and grabbing nine rebounds. There was a point deep in the third quarter when the Wolves were rolling and Edwards was still locked in. A Thunder player tried to slip behind him for a back-cut layup, something Edwards has been vulnerable to in the past, but he read it the whole way and deflected the pass.
“That’s what we need him to do,” Finch said, “and when he does it, it takes us to another level.”
Rudy Gobert also played less drop coverage, which Gilgeous-Alexander picked apart with midrange jumpers in the first two games, often blitzing the MVP or playing to the level of the screen. The aggressive posture emboldened the Wolves, never more than when Gobert stripped Gilgeous-Alexander on the perimeter.
Rudy Gobert PnR blitz + steal + draws the foul in transition pic.twitter.com/avw162oSyg
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) May 25, 2025
“We were trying to find ways to guard them like Denver (guarded) them, and we’re not the same team Denver is, so sometimes it’s not just apples to apples in a sense,” Conley said. “What works for us is us playing hard man-to-man defense, playing in gaps, being in passing lanes and being physical.”
Shannon debuts
Treanette Reading came to Target Center expecting just another game. She knew this one was important considering the Wolves were down 2-0, but she did not expect her son, Shannon, to be anywhere near the court. He had been out of the rotation since early March, playing mostly garbage time minutes here and there in his rookie season.
“I honestly thought he’d be on the bench again,” she said. “It was a shock. It was a pleasant surprise. I was so excited.”
There were early indications that Finch could look to shuffle the rotation after the two disappointing finishes in Oklahoma City. Finch has stuck with an eight-man rotation for most of the season, leaning on his veterans in high-leverage games. But Conley told Shannon after the team met Friday to be ready. The Wolves needed to ramp up their physicality, and few pack more of a punch than the 6-foot-6, 217-pound forward.
“I just know that’s one weapon we have that can come in and spark us,” Conley said. “His physicality, he’s not afraid of anything.”
When the Wolves held their “Stay-In-Shape League” scrimmage — an open run for players not in the rotation — after shootaround Saturday morning, Shannon was not in it. Assistant coach Micah Nori told him to be ready to go at the start of the second quarter, and was he ever.
The Wolves led 34-14 after the first quarter but knew the Thunder could come back from 20 down in a heartbeat. Finch needed more offense on the floor, so Shannon went in and delivered a jolt. In his first four-minute shift, he scored nine points, went 3-for-5 from the floor, got to the free-throw line for three shots and left with the Wolves’ lead at 26 points.
Shannon may be a rookie, but he is older than Edwards, with a birthday at the end of July that will make him 25. He knows how to use that muscle and play with force, delivering more punishment than he takes, which is so important against a Thunder defense that loves to initiate contact. He left his mark on the game — and on Jaylin Williams’ jaw.
TJ Shannon physical driving finish through contact pic.twitter.com/qWN00mWgLY
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) May 25, 2025
“I feel like the way I play, the defense has got to adjust to me, because I’m going so fast and fearless downhill that they got to adjust,” Shannon said.
The Wolves were buoyed by Shannon’s toughness. He finished the game with 15 points — one more than Gilgeous-Alexander — and ran the floor like few players on the team can do. He played very well in two of his three games against the Thunder in the regular season, including a 17-point effort to help Minnesota rally from 24 points down in the fourth quarter to beat Oklahoma City in February. Shannon showed the Thunder how he can impact a game on Saturday.
Reid sat next to him at the podium after the game, a proud big brother. Both players toiled in the G League as rookies. Both had to wait for their chances. Reid has taken Shannon under his wing, helping him along to make sure he felt included even when the minutes were not coming.
“Watching him stay ready and then put up a big performance like he did today in a big, big, big moment, it’s fun to see,” Reid said. “You kind of get the chills, like dang, I was really in that same situation. Just trying to coach him as much as possible. His game speaks for itself.”
When Game 4 comes around on Monday, Reading won’t be surprised to see her boy out there.
“You’re definitely going to see him more,” Finch said. “First thing is to be good in this league, you’ve got to keep doing what you’ve already just done. So, we just want to see more of the same.
“But we know either way, whether the shots go in or he scores or doesn’t score, he’s going to bring energy and competitiveness. That’s what we really love about him.”
Feeling the flow
The Wolves shot 29 percent from 3 in Game 1 and 28 percent in Game 2, a recipe for disaster against the Thunder. The Wolves were the fourth-best 3-point shooting team in the regular season, hitting 37.4 percent of their shots, and knew they had to shoot the ball well against Oklahoma City, which likes to concede open corner 3s so it can pack the paint on defense.
Finch said he liked the shots the Wolves were getting, especially in Game 2, but felt that better ball movement and more drive-and-kick action would create more rhythm and lead to higher success. That is exactly what happened in Game 3. Edwards and Randle both were able to touch the paint early and often, creating good looks for themselves and whipping the ball out to the perimeter for catch-and-shoot opportunities from good shooters.
Reid was 0-for-12 from deep in the first two games, but 2-for-3 in Game 3. DiVincenzo was 5-for-18 in Oklahoma City and 2-for-2 in Minnesota. Edwards went 5-for-8 after going 4-for-17 in Games 1 and 2.
Naz Reid pull-up 3, created by Anthony Edwards + Jaden McDaniels pic.twitter.com/IzZ3Eg81Qi
— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) May 25, 2025
Too often in Games 1 and 2, Wolves shooters would catch the ball at their ankles, or the pass would get to them late as Thunder defenders scrambled out to contest. Everything was much more fluid in Game 3, giving them cleaner looks and a rhythm that made it easier to let it fly with confidence.
When the Wolves return for Game 4 Monday night at Target Center, they should not plan on going 20-for-40 from 3 again. But they can plan on creating good shots with penetration from Edwards and Randle. They can plan on Shannon coming off the bench to ignite the break and turn the paint into a mosh pit. They can plan on their minds being clear on the defensive end, making it easier for them to maintain aggression.
“We haven’t done anything,” Randle said. “(The Thunder) are a great team, so we’ve got to go and do it again and play even better, play harder, because we know they’re going to bring it next game.”
One year ago, the Wolves were down 3-0 to Dallas before their first win, an ultimately meaningless game that only prolonged the inevitable. Things didn’t look any more promising after two games in Oklahoma City, when the Thunder seemed prime to bum-rush the NBA Finals.
In Game 3, the Wolves looked like they belonged. They looked like they figured some things out. It is only one game, but it’s a start. This is the way it had to go.
(Photo of Julius Randle: Ellen Schmidt / Getty Images)
