The Oklahoma City Thunder came into this game (44-9) and looked to go into the All-Star break with 45 wins. If they were going to achieve that, they would have to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are coming off one of their worst losses all season against the Bucks. The Timberwolves have been banged up lately with no Randle, Divincenzo, and tonight no Conley/Gobert. Anthony Edwards was a game-time decision, but one thing about Ant-Man: he loves to put on a show for the fans with big matchups. It was going to be a showdown of guards in the NBA who are at the top of their game, with Anthony Edwards facing off against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Timberwolves had Anthony Edwards active and ready to go as he came out firing on all cylinders in that 1st quarter. Edwards had the three-pointer going, and he could attack the rim even against a tough defender like Lu Dort from the Thunder. It was clear that the Thunder didn’t want Anthony Edwards to be the reason they lost, as they tried double-teaming him early in the game. One of the double teams was mistimed, and it resulted in what could be the dunk of the year. Anthony Edwards turned the corner and met up with Chet Holmgren at the rim, and Ant-Man won, letting Chet know about it after the poster dunk. It’s plays like that dunk that get this Timberwolves team going, and the offense was flowing after the impact of the dunk with momentum. The Timberwolves were able to go on a 22-9 run after the dunk and things started to shift in Minnesota’s way. The main player from Minnesota who was able to get his offense going in this one was Naz Reid. It seemed as though the Thunder had no answer for Naz as he shot 11/18 from the field tonight. Naz was able to take advantage of the moments when OKC doubled Edwards and used his size to score inside and out on mismatches. Naz Reid was able to show up big time in the rebounding department as he was able to step up big time with Rudy Gobert not in action tonight. Naz was able to grab a season-high 14 rebounds tonight against the Thunder, and he was able to start some fast breaks with his rebounds that caught the Thunder off guard. Naz Reid was spectacular in his performance as he was about to lead Minnesota in scoring with 27 points, 14 rebounds, and 7 assists. The Big 3 of Anthony, Naz, and Jaden have been able to give this team a spark this last month, and all three of them were able to score 20+ points tonight.
Anthony Edwards will always be able to get his shot, but we have seen Jaden McDaniels get the chance to open up his game and showcase his shot-making ability as well. Jaden was able to shoot 50% from the field on 9/18 and was able to defend Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tonight to the best of his abilities. It’s impressive that Jaden’s able to score consistently and defend consistently, something that is extremely rare in the NBA. Anthony Edwards had a quiet 23 points, but that was because his team showed up in a big way against the Thunder tonight. Terrence Shannon Jr had his number called tonight, and he didn’t disappoint on both ends. Shannon Jr gave this team a spark when they needed it against OKC, and he was able to make big-time hustle plays. Shannon Jr finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds but made an impact all over the floor as he’s making the best of every chance his number is called. The Timberwolves had a game plan tonight, and they executed it because they made things tough on the front runner for MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander all night with different defenders.
The two Thunder players that put the team on their backs were the All-Stars SGA and Jalen Williams, as they both combined for 44 of the 101 points. The Thunder had moments where they could have gotten close, but every single time, the Timberwolves responded. Both these teams will play each other a couple of times coming out of the All-Star break, so it should be interesting to see how this matchup looks for the remainder of the season.
Photo Credit: Ellen Schmidt/NBAE via Getty Images
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