Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer
The Western Conference finals continue with the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder taking a commanding 2-0 series lead over the No. 6 seed Minnesota Timberwolves for a spot in the NBA Finals.
The Thunder are aiming to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 2012. This postseason, OKC swept the No. 8 seed Memphis Grizzlies before needing seven games to eliminate the No. 4 seed Denver Nuggets.
Meanwhile, the Timberwolves are trying to secure their first appearance in the NBA Finals in franchise history. The Wolves previously knocked off the No. 3 Los Angeles Lakers before dispatching the No. 7 seed Golden State Warriors.
Here’s what stood out from the Thunder’s Game 2 win and what to expect from Game 3 with the series now shifting to Minnesota.
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Game 2: Thunder 118, Timberwolves 103
What stood out for the Thunder: A day after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won his first MVP Award, he led the Thunder to a commanding 2-0 series lead with a game-high 38-point performance. The Thunder turned a 58-50 halftime lead into a blowout, outscoring the Timberwolves in the third quarter, 35-21, to lead by as much as 24 points. The Timberwolves cut their deficit to as few as 10 points in the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t complete the comeback.
The Thunder have dominated this series on both ends of the court, using a combination of suffocating defense and a well-oiled offense to be two games shy of the championship round. Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams (26 points and 10 rebounds) and Chet Holmgren (22 points) seemingly didn’t have any trouble picking their spots against a Timberwolves team that sailed through the first two rounds of the playoffs (winning their first two series against the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors in five games), but that has simply looked overmatched against this team.
What stood out for the Timberwolves: After scoring just 18 points in Game 1 of this series, Anthony Edwards vowed to shoot more in Game 2. He accomplished that, finishing with 32 points, nine rebounds and six assists on Thursday. But Julius Randle, who has been huge this postseason and made a major dent in Game 1 with 28 points, had only six points on 2-for-11 shooting in Game 2 and didn’t even play in the fourth quarter. The Timberwolves have been struggling to generate enough offense against the Thunder’s top-rated defense.
What’s in store for Game 3: For the Timberwolves, they need more consistency on offense. Edwards, while more productive in Game 2, greatly struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 1-for-9 after going 3-for-8 from that distance in Game 1. He also needs more help. Randle wasn’t the only Timberwolves player who greatly struggled in Game 2. Rudy Gobert was held to just five points on 2-for-5 shooting. And the Timberwolves haven’t seen explosive performances from Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid as they did in the first two series of the postseason.
As for the Thunder, they don’t need many notes. Entering this postseason there were questions whether they were the real deal and could handle the bright lights of the big stage or whether their youth and relative postseason inexperience would hinder them. They’re proving that those questions were unfounded as the team with the best record in the regular season is sailing through the Western Conference Finals so far.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
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