Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wore a microphone during Saturday night’s game.
Here’s guessing ABC expected to get all sorts of interesting soundbites from SGA. Maybe things that he said to teammates in a close game. Perhaps reactions he had after plays he made.
Thing is, the newly minted MVP spent way more time on the bench than normal.
So it goes in an epic blowout.
Timberwolves 143, Thunder 101.
All of a sudden, it’s game on in the Western Conference finals. Through the first two games of this series, it looked like the Thunder were barreling down Blowout Boulevard. It might not sweep the series, but heading into the weekend, winning this series in four games felt way more likely than it lasting six games, much less seven.
That changed Saturday night.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was right about Game 3 loss
But now, the Western Conference finals can go one of two ways for the Thunder.
1. It will come out Monday, play well and show that this blowout was an anomaly. (By the way, it could play well and lose and still take positive steps forward, though, of course, a win would be preferable)
2. It will let one terrible, horrible, no good, very bad loss become the start of a downward spiral. Bad habits linger. Poor performances compound.
If I had to guess, I’d pick Door No. 1.
It’s a bit of an educated guess, though.
That mic that Gilgeous-Alexander wore picked up something quite interesting and insightful as he sat on the bench late in the game. He was talking with reserve Aaron Wiggins, and even though the bit that ABC aired during the broadcast didn’t include much of a lead-up, it was clear Gilgeous-Alexander was talking about the Thunder’s biggest issues in the game.
“Turnovers early. They were more physical early,” he began. “And they made shots and we missed shots. But the other two are first, and then on top of this, they had a great night, we had a bad night, and it’s 40 (point deficit).”
Wiggins nodded.
“But if we take care of these (first two), we could still lose … but it doesn’t look like this, you know?”
He’s 100% right about everything.
First, his diagnosis of what ailed the Thunder was spot on. On the turnover front, OKC had five in the first quarter and four in the second. Its nine first-half turnovers were more than it had in all of Game 2 (six).
Worse, the Thunder had three turnovers in the first four or so minutes of the game, and they were of the sloppy, unforced variety. Lu Dort stepped out of bounds when he caught the ball in the corner and prepared to shoot a 3-pointer. Then, Jalen Williams got loose with the ball, allowing Rudy Gobert to come up with a steal and setting up an Anthony Edwards run-out in transition. Finally, Isaiah Hartenstein found himself in a pickle in the paint and tried to flick the ball behind his back to SGA, but it sailed out of bounds instead.
The Wolves scored after all three of those turnovers. They were already hitting shots, but those points off turnovers only added to their momentum.
Ditto for the physicality.
The Wolves went at the Thunder right out of the gate. Julius Randle hit a shot against Williams, then one over Dort. Jaden McDaniels scored on SGA. Edwards drained a 3 when a screen impeded Cason Wallace.
And Minnesota wasn’t just getting into OKC on the offensive end. On defense, the Wolves were the aggressors. They limited the Thunder to one offensive rebound in the first quarter, even though it missed 15 shots. They hustled to loose balls. They got hands into the passing lanes and bodies into the paint.
Frankly, the Wolves did what the Thunder usually does.
All of that was compounded by Minnesota having a great night shooting the ball. It was 13 of 23 (56.5%) in the first quarter, including 6 of 13 from behind the arc. At halftime, that shooting percentage had only dipped to 56.2%.
All of that helped the Wolves build a 35-point lead in the second quarter and have a 31-point lead at halftime.
The Thunder’s shooting percentage?
Rather than traumatize you again, I’ll say this: It’s never good when you only have three fewer turnovers than made baskets.
It’s hard to know if the Timberwolves will shoot as well as they did Saturday night. Or if the Thunder will shoot as poorly. Teams get hot. Teams go cold. It happens, and it’s hard to predict when it will.
But taking care of the ball?
Being the physical aggressor?
Those don’t just happen; they’re a conscious decision. The Thunder did neither well enough in Game 3.
Will it in Game 4?
Will Saturday’s loss have taught OKC anything?
The answers to those questions will decide this series.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.