Subscribe
Follow Us
On Tuesday, the Minnesota Timberwolves fell down 0-1 in their Western Conference Finals series vs the Oklahoma City Thunder. While Minnesota got off to a solid start in this game, they ultimately went ice cold down the stretch, being outscored by 30 in the second half en route to a blowout loss.
One of the main reasons that the Timberwolves were unable to get anything going was the lack of contribution from their bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Naz Reid, and Donte DiVincenzo each struggled mightily to put the ball in the basket, which allowed the Thunder to create separation quickly.
Ahead of Thursday's Game 2, Alexander-Walker spoke on the pressure, or lack thereof, that the team is feeling to respond.
“We're fortunate to have an opportunity to try to get Game 2, and then we're going home,” he said, per Timberwolves insider Dane Moore on X, formerly Twitter. “I believe in our ability at home this postseason, and I know the crowd is going to be ready waiting for us… crazier things have happened. We've seen 3-1 leads be blown. Hopefully we don't have to get to 3-1… but it's just one game at a time.”
Timberwolves fans will certainly also be hoping that the team isn't staring at 3-1 deficit in the face by the time Game 5 rolls around (assuming there is one).
A big test for the Timberwolves
While they've largely been dominant so far this postseason, the Timberwolves haven't seen anything like the buzzsaw that is the Thunder defense, which relentlessly pressured Anthony Edwards throughout Game 1.
While Julius Randle was able to make them pay for that defensive attention with 20 first half points, when he went quiet in the second half, Minnesota had no further answers.
Edwards had a subpar game by his standards in Game 1, but the Timberwolves' true issue was their lack of shooting off the bench. The team simply won't be able to keep up in this series if Alexander-Walker, DiVincenzo, and Reid aren't knocking down open threes.
In any case, Game 2 of Timberwolves vs Thunder is slated for Thursday evening, once again from Oklahoma City. The game will tip off at 8:30 PM ET and be carried by ESPN.
