The Minnesota Timberwolves fell in disappointing fashion to a road-weary, shorthanded Oklahoma City Thunder team on Monday night.
The Minnesota Timberwolves turned in one of their worst performances of the Chris Finch era on Monday night, despite the shorthanded Oklahoma City Thunder playing on the second night of a back-to-back and the final game of a long road trip.
While this was a sloppy game all the way around, the first half of Wolves-Thunder was … particularly unsightly.
The Wolves hadn’t played since Friday night, and there was clear rust to knock off. The Thunder played a Sunday matinee and returned Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the floor after he sat out OKC’s win over the Houston Rockets, but they didn’t look much better.
The Thunder defensive game plan was to swarm Karl-Anthony Towns every time he touched the ball. It worked, and the Wolves star shot just 5-of-14 in the first half and didn’t register a single assist. Anthony Edwards didn’t score until just over nine minutes remained in the second quarter but finished the half with nine points and three assists.
The Wolves defense was a step slow, allowing the Thunder far too many open 3-point attempts and shots at the rim.
The third quarter was equally as sloppy, and the officials’ refusal to call fouls on either end of the floor only added to the muck. With only a few minutes remaining in the third, there were a total of 10 free throws attempted between both teams.
The Wolves played a little better defensively, forcing three shot-clock violations in the frame, but still gave up 26 points and played OKC to a draw.
The fourth quarter started with a 13-5 Thunder run that gave the visitors a 15-point lead with 8:38 remaining. The lead ballooned to 18 and the Wolves never pulled closer than six points a Towns missed a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left that would have cut the deficit to three.
Minnesota Timberwolves Player Grades vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
Other Notable Minnesota Timberwolves Players
Jaden McDaniels had an opportunity to play long minutes at the 3 early in the game but overall wasn’t able to have much of an impact. He shot just 1-of-5 and was only able to add one rebound, one assist, and one block in 15 minutes.
Jarrett Culver played eight first-half minutes and struggled mightily, only contributing a single rebound to the box score.
Next up for the Minnesota Timberwolves
The Wolves have a tougher test on Wednesday night, hosting the Dallas Mavericks at Target Center. Then, the trade deadline on Thursday prior to back-to-back home contests against the freefalling Houston Rockets.