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It's natural for the team down 2-0 in the series to be frustrated, struggling to come up with answers, but the frustration the Minnesota Timberwolves are feeling at the moment is boiling over to their play on the court. During their 118-103 defeat to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals, the Timberwolves had a few moments of annoyance with the Thunder's foul-baiting ways, with Jaden McDaniels even shoving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the ground to try and prove a point.
McDaniels, of course, has the support of his teammates, especially one of his closest friends on the team in Naz Reid. Reid was vociferously protesting the Thunder's Academy Award-level acting, and he outright told Lu Dort, the Thunder player that would listen to him, to “stop flopping”.
Naz Reid and Lu Dort in each other’s faces after McDaniels seemed to hip check SGA and he went tumbling.
“Stop flopping,” Reid told Dort. “That’s bad hoop bro.” pic.twitter.com/GHOVUPoaFV
— Joel Lorenzi (@JoelXLorenzi) May 23, 2025
Alas, even with the Timberwolves' frustrations mounting to an all-time high, they cannot let the emotions of the game run loose and dictate how well they play. The game's the game, and as long as the officials get baited into calling one foul after another with the way the Thunder seem to exaggerate contact, all the Timberwolves can do is focus on the things they can control, which is to run their offense as well as they can.
That has not been something they have done throughout the series thus far. They once again lost the possession battle after turning the ball over 14 times in Game 2. Moreover, Reid has been firing blanks from beyond the arc. Even with the Timberwolves rolling with him in the fourth quarter over Julius Randle after Randle struggled to the tune of six points on 2-11 shooting on the night, Reid could not get his offense going, going 0-5 from deep on the night.
In Game 3, the Timberwolves have to show maturity beyond their years and not allow Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, or any Thunder player for that matter, get to their head.
Timberwolves shoot more free throws than the Thunder in Game 2
For all the flak that Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder get for their foul-baiting ways, the Timberwolves still shot more free throws than the Thunder did (26 to OKC's 24). The free-throw game can be a major equalizer for when a team's shots aren't falling, but if the Timberwolves continue to stink it up from three and turn the ball over, then they have to chance at coming back from 2-0 down in the series.
The hope is that the Timberwolves ride the rush that they will get from playing in front of their home crowd for Game 3, which will be on Saturday night at 8:30 PM EST.
