Timberwolves 143, Thunder 101: Well Well Well, How the Turn Tables

The first two games of the 2025 Western Conference Finals did not go to plan for the Minnesota Timberwolves. After playing well in the first half of both games, a pair of disastrous third quarters caused the Wolves to fall behind 2-0 to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

With their backs against the wall, the Timberwolves needed to respond, and they did exactly that. The first quarter of Game 3 was possibly the best quarter of Minnesota’s season and certainly the worst of Oklahoma City’s.

After the Thunder scored the first four points of the game, the Wolves went on a run that potentially saved their season. The Wolves outscored the Thunder 34-10 over the last 10:43 of the first quarter to take a 20-point lead. Anthony Edwards scored 16 points in the quarter, outscoring OKC all by himself.

The Timberwolves didn’t let up in the second quarter with Terrence Shannon Jr. providing an unlikely spark off the bench. Shannon played four minutes in the second quarter, scoring nine points including an and-1 jumper, a pull-up midrange shot, and a layup in transition.

The Timberwolves led by as many as 35 in the second quarter, taking a 72-41 lead into the halftime locker room. The 72 points are a franchise record for points in any half of a playoff game.

As almost every Wolves fan knows, though, no lead is big enough to feel comfortable, especially not against a team as good as the Thunder. Those fears began to show up to start the second half as the Thunder went on a 12-2 run to start the period, cutting the lead to 22.

The Wolves were playing with none of the passion or aggression that got them the big lead. Head coach Chris Finch sensed this and immediately called a timeout. Whatever was said during that timeout caused the Wolves to lock right back in as Minnesota went on a 23-4 run, pushing the lead all the way up to 41 points.

That lead would prove to be plenty as the Thunder would waive the white flag late in the third quarter. After making a few more shots, the Wolves did the same, putting in their bench for the final 7:41 of the game.

The lead got as high as 45 points as the Wolves took Game 3 in dominating fashion, 143-101. Edwards was sensational in the game, playing possibly the best game of his young career. He ended up with 30 points on 12-17 shooting, including five 3-pointers, nine rebounds, and six assists. Shannon had the game of his young career, scoring 15 points, nine of which came in the second quarter.

The Wolves’ defense did an outstanding job making life hard on the Thunder’s star players in this game. Shai Gilgeous was limited to just 14 points on 4-13 shooting, with Jalen Williams similarly struggling with 13 points while going 3-9 from the field.

It is still to be seen how much of this game can change the tenor of the series, but for now, the Wolves have cut the Thunder series lead to 2-1.

Key Takeaways

Terrence Shannon Jr. is more than just a “sparkplug”

There’s enough information at this point to deem Shannon Jr. as a consistently effective player against Oklahoma City. Heading into Saturday, he averaged 12 points on 51 percent from the field in three games against the Thunder during the regular season, including a major role in the 25-point road comeback.

On Saturday, he was the lifeline. Shannon finished with 15 points on 5-8 shooting, with just two of his three misses coming from three.

It was part of the game plan tonight for the rookie to see minutes, being told before the game by assistant coach Micah Nori to stay ready for minutes that would come in the second quarter.

It’s not a coincidence. In a series in which the Thunder are trying to take paint point away, another skilled finisher around the rim that finishes at high speed is important to try and wear them down.

“TJ and Ant are very similar body types, archetypes,” Mike Conley said afterward. “When Ant goes out and you get a guy like that coming in who can apply the same amount of pressure, he’s a one-man fastbreak, he gets in the paint…he’s that good…we just need that balance he gives us.”

No matter how good Anthony Edwards can be at attacking the rim and finishing over taller defenders, it’s an incredibly tough ask to have him continuously attack the rim over the course of his typical 30-plus minutes of gametime. The Thunder know that, and it’s the focal point of what they’re doing.

Enter Shannon.

“I just feed off the energy, or if the energy is off, just bring it,” Shannon said at the podium. “It gotta read the game, but with the way I play, I feel like the defense has to adjust to me.”

Sound familiar?

“He’s willing to get to the paint no matter what,” Anthony Edwards added. “Now it’s just about being able to read the game for him…he’s not a regular rookie man.”

When energy comes from the top down, it’s contagious

The statlines might have been below average to satisfactory for Ant in the first two games of the series, but frankly, I thought the energy he brought was lackluster, both on the defensive end and checking out at points altogether offensively.

Does the bench sometimes pick that up in the regular season when the energy trails off from the starting group? Sometimes. But I think Saturday proved that it has to be something that employee number five brings on a regular basis in order to bring this series back even. It started with a steal and dunk in the first quarter that not only brought the roof off of Target Center, but was reflective of the rest of the game.

The Wolves would go on to finish with six steals and get their hands on many Oklahoma City passes, disrupting their offensive flow and taking Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (series-low 14 points) completely out of rhythm.

“We wanted to be the aggressor in everything,” Finch said afterward. “Guys knew what type of defense we can play, and we felt most of the series we’ve been on our heels defensively.”

Finch has said it plenty. The Wolves oftentimes let their defense affect their offense. In the first two games, that’s been the case from a negative lens.

On Saturday? The opposite.

Up Next

The Wolves got themselves back into the series with the victory on Saturday. Now, they look to knot the series at 2-2 with Game 4 on Monday. The game begins at 7:30 PM CT at Target Center, airing on ESPN.

Game Highlights